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UNITED STATES OF AMESICA. 



A Champion of the Cross 




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A Champion of the Cross 



BEING 



THE LIFE 



OF 



JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, S.T.D 

INCLUDING 

EXTRACTS AND SELECTIONS 

FROM 

HIS WRITINGS 



Rev. CHARLES F/SWEET 




NEW YORK 

JAMES POTT & CO., PUBLISHERS 

1894 






I --- 



THE UBRARy 
OF CONOHKIS 

WASHINGTON 






Copyright, 1S93, by 
CHARLES F. SWEET 



Printed from type, 
and limited to five hundred copies 



TROW DIRECTORY 

PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY 

NEW YORK 



PREFACE 



John Henry Hopkins needs no introduction to the Amer- 
ican Church. For the last forty years he has been one of the 
weightiest of the influences which have moulded and directed her 
thought. Nevertheless, my connection with him is not so clear 
as to give authenticity to what I have written concerning him. 
When Dr. Hopkins died two years ago his brother undertook the 
work of writing the biography. It is to him that a very large 
degree of credit is due for the material which he afterward 
handed over to me. I had been one of Dr. Hopkins's students, 
and to me he had left the task of completing his work on the 
history and true meaning of the Seventh General Council. Ac- 
cordingly, when the brother found that he could not complete the 
biography, it was in a certain sense natural that the materials 
should be given to me ; which was done, and I, with the full 
approval of all Dr. Hopkins' relatives, undertook the work. 
The work, then, has been done, as well as it could have been by 
myself, in such intervals as I could snatch from the work of a 
parish in a large New England factory city. I have no apolo- 
gies to make for the carelessness and scrappiness of the work, for 
I did as well as I could under the circumstances. 

I desire to say here just a word or two as to Dr. Hopkins as a 
teacher. I have seen, from the pupils' bench, a good many 
teachers, in university, and in legal studies, and in theology, 
and, leaving all question of learning out of consideration (for all 
know that Dr. Hopkins was a man of genuine erudition), he was 
simply one of the best that I ever knew. That he was sympathetic 
will be gathered from the biography. But he was far more. He 
was simply inspiring. What I am is of little consequence, indeed, 
but such as I am, after those who gave me life and care and love, 
I owe to him. This book has been written because I love him, 
and so have tried to snatch from the maw of Time some relics of 
his life, whose full beauty will be known of all, as he willed to 
have it, in God's own day. 

Charles F. Sweet. 

St. Thomas' Church, Methuen, Mass., 
Autumn, 1893. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. 

1820-1830. 

PAGE 

Parents and Early Life i-io 

CHAPTER II. 

1831-1842. 

Removal from Boston, Mass., to Burlington, Vt. — Graduation from the 
University of Vermont — Sonnet-writing in 1838 — Interest in Poli- 
tics, Lithography 1 1-22 

CHAPTER IIL 

1843. 

Life in Savannah, Ga. — Tutor in the Family of Bishop Elliott — Tracts 

and Tractarians — Athirst for Love 23-40 

CHAPTER IV. 
1 843- 1 849. 

Goes to Louisiana — Goes to New York City — Reporter on The Courier 
and Enqtiirer — Paints Miniatures on Ivory — Prepares ' ' Vermont 
Drawing-book of Flowers" and "Vermont Drawing-book of Fig- 
ures " — The Print-colorer's Lament — Enters the General Theologi- 
cal Seminary — Chess — The Church Joitrnal — Epigrams — Byronic 
Collar — His Reading of Hebrew — The Oxford Movement — The New 
York Ecclesiological Society — Designs for Stained Glass Windows 
— Rood Screen — Needle-work Adornment of Vestments — The First 
Alb, Chasuble, and Dalmatic — The First Colored Stole — The First 
Pastoral Staff — Designs Altar Plate — Episcopal Seals — Alms Basin 
sent by the General Convention to the Church of England — Thanks 
by Bishop Wordsworth — Monument to his Father — Pastoral Staff 
for First Bishop of Central Pennsylvania — Church Music — Music 
Composed and Hymns Written— Carols 41-72 



viii Table of Contents. 

CHAPTER V. 

I850-I867. 

PAGE 

Ordained Deacon — Vigil of Ordination — The Church Journal — Six 
Months' Charge of the Church of the Epiphany, Washington, D. C. 
— Story of his Public Life — Condition of the Church at this Time 
— Chanting the Canticles — Calvinism and Catholicity — Tracts for 
the Times — Reunion of Catholic Christendom — The termimis ad 
que??i 73~8l 

CHAPTER VI. 

1868. 

Radicals — Drs. Seymour and De Koven — Staff of The Church Journal 
— St. Stephen's College, Annandale — Revival of the Diaconate — 
The Beginning of Methodism — The Salvation Army— Lack of Edu- 
cation — Smaller Dioceses — Called a Dreamer, a Doctrinaire — Prov- 
inces — Fairness in Distribution of Offices — The General Theologi- 
cal Seminary — Free Churches. — Protestant Episcopal Routine — 
Flexibility of Practical System — The First Mistake of the Church 
— Dr. Muhlenberg's Memorial 82-104 

CHAPTER VII. 

1865 and 1866. 

Evangelicals — General Convention of 1859 — The Church a Haven of 
Peace — General Convention of 1862 — The Highest Political Move- 
ment that Rose in the Chutch — The Southern Church — The Church 
Completely Reunited — Attitude of The Church Journal — Assassi- 
nation of President Lincoln — Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico — 
Russia's Sympathy — The Sclavonic Liturgy used in New York — 
Sale of The Church Jourjial — St. Alban's Church, New York — 
" Tlie Huckleberry-Pudding Business" — Ceremonial Development 
— Ritualistic Controversy in England — Ornaments Rubric — Lib- 
erty of Ritual — " The Blank Cartridge" — The Oxford Movement 
— Ritualism — The Thirty Years' War — Dr. Pusey's Eirenicon — 
Bishop Hopkins' "Law of Ritualism" — The "Declaration"— 
*' The Blank Cartridge " 105-146 

CHAPTER VIII. 
1867-1872. 

The Colenso Affair — The First Lambeth Conference — Journal of the 
Visit to England and France — Chester Cathedral — Durham Cathe- 
dral — York Cathedral — Lincoln Cathedral — Peterborough Cathe- 
dral — Norwich Cathedral — Westminster Abbey — St. Alban's, Hol- 
born — St. Paul's Cathedral — Mr. Mackonochie — Archdeacon 
Wordsworth — Archbishop of Canterbury — Dr. Pusey — Magdalen 



Table of Contents. ix 



College — British Museum — Rochester Cathedral — Lambeth Palace 
— Meetings of Council — Dieppe — Rouen — Paris — Rheims — Laon — 
Amiens — Beauvais — London — All Saints, Margaret Street — Voyage 
Home — Death of Bishop Hopkins — Sale of The Church Journal — 
Began to Write the Life of his Father — Missionary Work — Rector 
at Plattsburgh, N. Y. — Reformed Episcopal Church — Use of the 
Litany — Early Celebrations— His last Communication for the Pub- 
lic Eye 147-192 

CHAPTER IX. 
1 874- 1 89 1. 

Rector at Williamsport, Pa. — Parochial Ministration — Proposed Divi- 
sion of the Diocese — An Assistant Bishop Instead — Lecture in 
Lock Haven — Life of Rev. James Breck — Proposal to go to Spring- 
field, 111. — An Appellate Court in Illinois — Tiip West — Racine — 
Nashotah — Daily Eucharist — Church Congress — Bishop White- 
head's Election to Pittsburgh — Pastoral Staff — Chancellorsville and 
the Wilderness — Province of Pennsylvania — Bishop Stevens — Sup- 
plemental Deputy to General Convention — Canon on Election of 
Bishops — Illuminated Book of Hours — Consecration of Bishop 
Walker — Bishop Stevens and the Federate Council — Monsignor 
Capel — Order of Corporate Reunion — Deputy to General Conven- 
/' tion of 1886 — Terms of Union with Religious Bodies — First Elec- 
'' tion to Lectureship on Christian Evidences at the General Theo- 
logical Seminary — Resigns His Williamsport Rectorship — Visit to 
California — Rejected by the Trustees of the General Theological 
Seminary M^hen nominated as Lecturer — Gift of Books to the Li- 
brary — Knocked down by a Broadway Horse-car — Ordination of 
His Nephew — Illness at Troy, N. Y. — Kindness of Dr. Ferguson 
— Changes in the Roman Catholic Church — The Iconoclastic Con- 
troversy — Defence of Phillips Brooks — The Dream of a Child — He 
Marries the Daughter of His Kind Friend — A Few Weeks After- 
ward He Falls Asleep in Jesus — Buried near His Father in Burling- 
ton, Vt. — Tribute from Bishop Thompson 193-237 

• APPENDIX. 

Proportionate Representation — Rain, Light, Heat, and Soil ; Sermon 
29, S. Mark iv. 28 — For Family Prayers, Collects for the 
Seven Days of the Week — The Provincial System, American 
Church Review, Januaiy, 1891 — The Lay Element in England and 
in America — Three Points, An Essay Read before the Associate 
Alumni of the General Theological Seminary, May 31, 1887 — De- 
cline and Fall of the Low-Church Party, Church and the World, 
July, 1872— The Cathedral System in the City, The Regular 
Quarterly Paper Read at the Meeting of the New York Ecclesio- 
logical Society, January, 1855 — Letters 239-372 

Index 373-374 



A CHAMPION OF THE CROSS. 

CHAPTER I. 
1820-1830. 

John Henry Hopkins was born at Pittsburg, October 28, 
1820. At the time of his birth his father, who was afterward 
distinguished in the history of the Church both for his genius and 
learning, as well as by his position as Bishop of the Diocese of 
Vermont, was a member of the bar, and already showing in his 
early manhood the traits which were afterward to make him one 
of the notable figures that have worn the Episcopal purple ; and 
no thought had yet come to his mind of any other vocation in 
life than that in which he was on the beaten road to success. 

The elder John Henry Hopkins (born in Dublin of mingled 
English and Irish blood) was noted for his ready, receptive, 
strong mind, his independence of character, his moral courage, 
his unflinching devotion to duty, his pertinacity and hopefulness, 
and for a general ' ' masculine ' ' type of character. Bishop Hop- 
kins' s mind never stopped growing. The principles upon which 
he based his actions were never forsaken. Some men go on 
bravely, it may be for a long time, acting upon a certain set of 
principles, and then seem all at once to be stricken with some 
mortal panic fear, and, at first wavering, then pausing, then fall- 
ing from the ranks altogether, they appeal to their old compan- 
ions to leave like them ; and they denounce those who keep their 
place ' ' in the ranks hard-pressed ' ' as traitors to the very cause 
which once engaged them heart and soul. This sort of thing 
happens over and over again in the course of all great move- 
ments, and those who take such a course invariably justify them- 
selves by saying that principles are pushed too far. But Bishop 
Hopkins was no such man. He had clearness of vision to see 
consequences and the courage to go on whether he liked them or 
not. 

So was it with his son, John Henry, junior. The elements of 
a character which make it strong, and which are called masculine 
1 



2 A Champion of the Cross. [1820-30. 

because men ought to be strong, the son received in full measure 
from his father. But more than this, with the strength of mind 
there was also genuine versatility, copying in this, too, from the 
father, which was never frittered away in idle accomplishment. 
The aesthetic tastes, marked in him by love for art, including its 
noblest development, music, which are the sphere of exercise of 
what the Germans call the "play impulse " in character, never 
sunk into mere recreations or amusements, but were lifted up by 
intense personal devotion, and thus made to serve the cause of 
religion. 

If he received so much from the father there was clearly 
enough in him to make him a noteworthy figure in the Church. 

It is not often that a man is so happily yoked with one who 
harmonizes all the vigorous components of his nature without 
weakening them. She who was the mother of John Henry Hop- 
kins gave to him a rare store of religious enthusiasm, never-fail- 
ing zeal, amiability, and extreme tenderness of heart, together 
with that peculiar power of fascinating others which some people 
possess, and which is called, for lack of a better name, magnet- 
ism. From her, too, came the cheerful patience and sunny good 
nature, and the hopefulness worked, like St. Paul's, by experi- 
ence, and a charity that was never worn out, no matter what 
strains were put upon it. There are different sorts of strength, 
and the feminine sort is every whit as worthy of praise as the 
more rugged kind. 

The father is well known ; the mother, to whom her eldest 
son gave as long as he lived a strong, sweet, tender affection, was 
not known, except to those who shared her charming society. 
Of her influence upon the lives of her children it may here be 
said that the dauntless faith and bright hopefulness of her relig- 
ious life is to be seen in their lives. She deserves at least a men- 
tion in the biography of her best-knoAMi child. 

Madame Melusina Muller Hopkins was the daughter of Caspar 
Otto Muller, a wealthy merchant of Hamburg. For generations 
his family was almost wholly devoted to the German Lutheran 
ministry. He was the first who had broken through the clerical 
tradition of the family. But, adhering strictly to his determina- 
tion, made in early childhood, not to become a pastor, he had 
with varying fortunes followed a mercantile life, and, after some 
years in London, settled in Hamburg. He had married Eliza- 
beth Antoinette Trance, whose family had fled from France in 
1685 at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 



1820-30.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 3 

At Hamburg Melusina was born in 1795. Napoleon's occu- 
pation of Hamburg brought ruin upon Caspar Otto Miiller, as 
upon many others. After seventeen months of fruitless struggle, 
the effort to retrieve his fallen fortunes was abandoned, and with 
the few relics of his shattered fortunes and all his family, he set 
sail for the United States in the last ship that sailed from the 
Eider before the embargo went into effect. 

They landed at Baltimore, after six weeks' voyage, in June, 
1808, and soon prosperity gilded the outlook for the future. 

But once more war came to blast his hopes, for the British in- 
vasion brought the shock of conflict to his door. The death of 
General Ross, September, 18 14, alone prevented a battle in the 
very valley of his home. Once more, therefore, he resolved to 
quit his home and seek peace and a livelihood further west. 
Accordingly, in October of that year the Miiller family started 
from Baltimore for New Harmony in Western Pennsylvania. 
Mr. Miiller and his nephew had already, on a prospecting tour, 
met John H. Hopkins, and were much pleased with him ; but 
Melusina had never yet seen him, although common friends had 
felt that they were meant for each other from their extraordinary 
love of music. 

Journeying in big canvas-covered wagons, with the few me- 
mentos of happier, peaceful days, they made their way through 
the mountains, in rainy weather, by frightful roads. Thus they 
travelled for three weeks. After a fortnight the wagons, hub- 
deep in the clay, were abandoned, and their occupants made 
their way in Indian file as best they could, when on horseback 
appeared a solitary traveller, splashed with mud — it was John 
Henry Hopkins. This was the meeting of the parents of the 
younger Hopkins. Visit after visit to the log-cabin of the 
Miiller family ensued, and there these two accomplished and 
refined young people learned the lessons of mutual love. Hop- 
kins was then an iron-master ; but the prospects of success grew 
less and less promising, and the treaty of peace between the 
United States and Great Britain, signed at Ghent, December 24, 
18 14, brought no blessing to the manufacturers of iron. En- 
forced idleness revived a former predilection for the law, and he 
began his studies, being duly entered as a student-at-law. In 
May, 1 816, John Henry Hopkins and Melusina Miiller were 
married. The iron-master's business ended in disaster early in 
181 7 ; and, betaking himself to Pittsburg, to keep the wolf 
from the door the young couple taught in a fashionable school. 



4 A Champion of the Cross. [1820-30. 

the one painting and drawing, and the other music, for piano, 
harp, and guitar, and singing ; while the study of law went on 
unceasingly. In April, 18 18, he was admitted to practice, and 
at the time of the birth of his eldest son was reckoned as one of 
the leaders of the bar. 

For nearly fifty-tw^o years — from May, 18 16, to January, 1868 — 
Madame Hopkins continued the faithful wife, sympathizing friend, 
and solace of her husband. Through his varied and rising career 
as iron-master, lawyer, priest and Bishop and educator she lived 
but to reflect his every wish, and to aid him with her unusual 
energy. Very much of Bishop Hopkins' career was brilliantly 
successful, but when his first Vermont Episcopal Institute failed 
in 1839 many a dark day followed until 1841, when he removed 
his family from the village of Burlington ' ' out to the woods ' ' of 
Rock Point. During these and succeeding years of toil and pov- 
erty, when disaster followed upon disaster, Mrs. Hopkins' noble 
and Christian fortitude, her unstinted and instinctive self-sacrifice, 
her labors in all domestic cares, and her pious hopefulness stayed 
up his spirit and refreshed his courage. When in 1854 that same 
*' Institute " was revived by him and placed on Rock Point, 
none entered more ardently into the spirit of triumphant thanks- 
giving for his success in that long effort than she. They cele- 
brated their golden wedding in 1866. During their half century 
of married life thirteen children had been born to them. Eleven 
of them lived beyond the age of thirty. Thirty -seven of their 
descendants gathered at the old homestead at Rock Point for the 
golden wedding. Although all were not there, with thankful 
joy and pride the loving eyes of both parents welcomed their 
children to the fourth generation. And, as other years rolled 
on, during her sixteen years of widowhood ninety-three instead 
of thirty-seven greeted their venerable ' ' Mother ' ' and enlarged 
her heart and deepened her gratitude to God. 

Madame Hopkins was gifted with a voice of rare richness, 
sweetness, and power. That voice, with perfect truth of intona- 
tion combined with s)mipathetic quality of tone, retained its 
sweetness and nearly all its range and power until far past three 
score and ten. For over thirty years not only did she lead the 
singing at home in the morning and evening prayers while the 
Bishop played the accompaniment on the piano to music of his own 
while all the children sang, but she was her husband's chief re- 
liance in the choir when he was rector of Trinity Church at Pitts- 
burg. There she was organist ; and in Burlington to the very 



1820-30.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 5 

last her chief delight was to sing and play the favorite hymns of 
her husband's composition, and thus carry herself back in thought 
to bygone years of unbroken family union. 

For the last years of her life her correspondence with her ab- 
sent children was surprising in its variety and volume. She used 
to say that she " lived on the United States Mail," so entirely 
swayed was she to smiles or tears by the letters she received. 

The most complete outline of the life of her son would be 
seen in the letters which he sent her at least every week and re- 
lated all that he had done or had seen. She held it a sacred 
privilege to answer each one, and that she did in unfailing 
clearness of style and penmanship to the very last of her life. 

Her religious devotion often amounted to ecstasy, and gave 
tone to her whole life. One over-mastering passion — no less — 
swept her soul and moulded her style of daily intercourse with 
her children. It was the conviction that she was bringing them 
up for eternity. She died in 1884, in her ninetieth year, and 
so entered into the rest for which her soul had thirsted during the 
long years of separation from her earthly partner. 

The devotion of such a woman to her children, as well as what 
she gave them by birth, helps to account for the singular com- 
pleteness and soundness of her eldest son, John Henry. 

When he was but a little child, his father was, at a parish meet- 
ing of Trinity Church, Pittsburg, elected rector of the parish, 
although he was not even a candidate for Orders. Little by lit- 
tle, the desire to work for God in the highest of Christian call- 
ings had come to him, and the vanity of laboring for anything 
except that which shall last throughout eternity made plain to 
him. Once, when in such a mood, he had gone so far as to write 
to the Standing Committee of the Diocese as to whether he could 
be admitted as a candidate for Holy Orders provisionally — not yet 
seeing his way clear to the abandonment of his profession. He 
had once casually mentioned these thoughts to a fellow-vestry- 
man of the parish, and he it was who remembered the words. 
The rector, failing to invigorate the stagnant parish, had de- 
parted, and the vestry-man to whom Mr. Hopkins had spoken 
the year before, resolved, without lisping a syllable to him on the 
subject, to act upon the information he possessed. On the very 
day after the departure of the former priest, while Hopkins was 
attending court in another county, the parish meeting was called. 
The meeting was fully attended, and the vestry-man brought for- 
ward his plan, which was to elect Mr. Hopkins as their future 



6 A Champion of the Cross. [1820-30. 

rector, if he would consent to give up the law and proceed to 
ordination as soon as practicable, serving the parish as lay-reader 
until duly ordained. The idea of electing as rector a man who 
was not yet a candidate for Orders drew out some opposition ; 
but still greater was the reluctance to ask him to resign an in- 
come of some $5,000 a year and take instead of it a salary 
of $800 a year on which to bring up a growing family. After 
a long and animated discussion the call was unanimously 
given. At first it did not seem as if this sudden call could 
possibly be one which God would ratify, because liabilities 
assumed in business and the needs of an increasing family ap- 
peared to forbid peremptorily all thoughts of entering upon the 
life of a clergyman, with its scanty stipend, and its dependence 
upon the uncertain favor of congregations, however it might ap- 
peal to his heart and imagination. But all these questions were 
answered for him by one of those interpositions which seem to be 
the direct sequence of an intelligent will, and which we therefore 
call Providential ; and, a last obstacle being removed from his 
way by the noble spirit of heirs of a former partner in business, 
he accepted the call with the ready obedience which he ever 
gave to the calls of duty and honor, and, making the long jour- 
ney from Pittsburg over the mountains to Philadelphia, he was 
ordained Deacon by Bishop White, December 14, 1823, and on 
the next Sunday, December 2 ist, he entered upon his duties in 
Pittsburg. On the twelfth of the following May he was or- 
dained Priest. 

Mr. Hopkins began his parish work with all the vigor of his 
nature, and, as a first point, no time was lost in settling that a 
new church was to be built at once. This was but the outward 
expression of his energy, for, as a result of eighteen months' work 
in the ministry he presented to Bishop White on his first visit 
west of the mountains, in June, 1825, a class of nearly one hun- 
dred and fifty ; and the parish ranked as thii^d in the whole dio- 
cese in point of numerical strength. 

The church was built after the rector's own designs, with de- 
tail in imitation of the perpendicular style of architecture. The 
flat and plastered ceiling was painted in imitation of fan vaulting, 
and Mr. Hopkins had to set the workmen a model with his own 
hands. He used to linger behind, after the church was finished, 
after a night service, when the sexton was putting out the lamps, 
and try to fancy that the illusion was complete, and that just be- 
fore the last light was extinguished he saw indeed one of those 



1820-30.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 7 

vaulted roofs of stone which he regarded as the crowning glory 
of the art of the architect. 

So too in music ; for church music was then in as wretched a 
condition as church architecture. He began to compose this 
music himself, until, before he left Pittsburg the whole of the 
music used in pubhc worship was his own. His style was not, 
indeed, strictly ecclesiastical, nor had he learned counterpoint. 
But his taste was formed in the school of Pleyel, Haydn, and 
Mozart ; and his natural gift was so strong that he produced 
melodies of striking beauty, which were easily caught by those 
who had an ear for music, and the simplicity of their structure 
enabled many to sing an accompanying part without notes, so 
that singing was general all over the church, and the responses 
were as hearty as the singing. But the activities of Mr. Hop- 
kins were not confined to these limits. He was the only priest 
of the Church west of the mountains, and by expeditions to more 
destitute parts of the State he was the means of establishing no 
less than seven new parishes during the seven years of his service 
in Pennsylvania, and he was justly looked upon as the Father of 
the Church in the whole region which is now known as the Dio- 
cese of Pittsburg. 

In such an atmosphere of Church ideas young Hopkins was 
brought up. All things in his father's house centred in the 
Church, and thus settled his bent for life. To be sure, the con- 
ditions of things were then very different from what they are now, 
and the^' highest" Churchman of those days would have trem- 
bled with anxiety and fear at the sight of what passes for a matter 
of course in the most "moderate" sort of Church nowadays. 
Mr. Hopkins there began his patristic studies ; and he did so 
with a perseverance and thoroughness of which, at that time, our 
American Church had given no example. He recognized that 
the English Reformation was no more nor less than an appeal to 
the Primitive Church. He understood that the Reformers had 
no power to originate. They could only restore. They were of 
no authority whatever unless they restored correctly. He paid 
little attention comparatively to the Reformation, accepting much 
too easily the unworthy representations of Burnet. So, one by 
one as he could afford it, he bought the works of the Fathers, and 
added collections of the Councils. Thus during eighteen years 
he read the whole of the ancient Fathers, in the original, down 
to, and including St. Bernard ; besides carefully plodding through 
the whole of Hardouin's immense collection of the Councils, 



8 A CJiauipion of the Cross. [1820-30. 

which he supplemented by going over the ground again with 
Mansi. In reading the Greek Fathers he read the Greek as well 
as the Latin translation, which accompanies the Benedictine edi- 
tion. From his reading of St. Cyprian, he learned the meaning 
of the mixed chalice ; and so throughout his life he always when 
rector of a parish, mixed water with the wine in the Eucharistic 
celebration. So, too, he began the custom in Pittsburg of 
having the bread for the altar made carefully in his own house, 
and unleavened, in thin cakes, like wafers, deeply indented so as 
to be easily broken. He reached also, even at that early day, 
the conviction that many beautiful and "■ Scriptural " and edify- 
ing things had been lost in the Reformation that it would have 
been better to retain, rich colored vestments, altar lights, and in- 
cense. 

All these ideas were brought into the boy Hopkins' mind as 
they came into his father's mental vision ; for he was from the 
first, with his quick gaze and restless activity, his father's pride 
and joy, and shared his confidence. In his father's family school 
he was formed, and repeated in his life the precocity of his 
father, who had been taught by a mother of great intellectual 
power, gifted with many accomplishments. His responsive mind 
even then showed the keenness which made him afterward so dan- 
gerous an antagonist. 

Mr. Hopkins, although his salary had been increased to $1,200 
a year, needed an addition to his income, and at the suggestion 
of a friend therefore, in the spring of 1826, he took half a dozen 
young girls into his house to be educated with his own daughters ; 
and the number was gradually more than doubled. Afterward, 
as his sons became old enough to need a similar provision, an- 
other department was added for boys. The modest frame house 
was twice enlarged to meet these growing needs, the front, of 
brick, being last added, and having a touch of collegiate Gothic, 
with buttresses, pinnacles, and Tudor arches over doors, and hood 
mouldings over windows. The best room of the house was 
known as '■'■ The Oratory," and was used only for daily morning 
and evening worship. There was a good parlor organ, its 
case rising to the ceiling. Along the sides of the room at 
intervals were little cluster shafts at some distance from the walls, 
connected by spandrils above, while ribs crossed the flat ceiling 
diagonally, with pendants at the intersection in the centre. 
There was always at least one canticle chanted, besides a metrical 
psalm or hymn ; and all the music was composed by Mr. Hop- 



1820-30.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 9 

kins, who was usually, when at home, the organist. On the wall 
in the place of honor hung a copy of Raphael's Madonna della 
Seggiola, made by Mr. Hopkins' own hand. 

As the boys' department of the school grew upon Mr. Hop- 
kins' hands, it enabled him to give maintenance to one or more 
theological students. 

Though dancing was not taught, and even the usual games of 
children were mostly dispensed with, and tliere wa^e no vacations, 
yet there was no gloom about the school. Each department had 
a garden of its own, and to each pupil was assigned the care of 
some specific portion of that garden ; and the old oak grove near 
the house was a shadowy delight. Our John Henry early dis- 
played his ability and his entire trustworthiness. Music, draw- 
ing, and painting diversified the more serious branches of study. 
There was no competition, and public examinations were not 
held. But twice in each year an evening concert was given in 
the large school-room, to which parents and friends from town 
were invited ; and joyous festivals they were ! All the per- 
formers were teachers or pupils of the school, and every particle 
of the music used — overtures, marches, waltzes, solo songs, duets, 
vocal choruses — was composed by Mr. Hopkins ; the little or- 
chestra including piano-forte, harp, violins, violoncello, clarionets, 
flutes, and French horn. On a table in the middle of the hall 
were placed for inspection specimens of the work of each pupil — 
drawings, maps, paintings, or pieces of ornamental writing — the 
name and age of the doer being placed in the lower corner. At 
these concerts, and at the daily prayers, and at meals, all the pu- 
pils, boys and girls, came together. But on the two last-men- 
tioned occasions the intercourse was only ocular, as they sat on 
opposite sides of the oratory, and ate at different tables. Even 
John Elenry might not see his own sisters, except when as the 
trusted messenger of his father, he carried the drawing and paint- 
ing patterns and the copy slips from one school-room to the 
other. 

All the teaching in the school was marked by thoroughness 
and accuracy. Study of the Church Catechism, the learning of 
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel of the season and of other parts of 
Scriptures, as well as daily prayers, were a marked feature of the 
school as became a CJmrch school. Another feature was the reci- 
tation of the whole lesson by each scholar. And no mere facile 
recitation of the lesson satisfied the acute mind of the master. 
The lesson had to be fixed in the understanding even more firmly 



lO A CJiainpion of the Cross. [1820-30. 

than in the memory before a subject was passed. Here John 
Henry learned to copy his father's musical manuscript, and later 
on he learned how to correct it according to the rules of thor- 
ough bass. 

John Henry here was most deeply, although unconsciously, 
impressed by all the peculiarities of his father's mind and opin- 
ions. Excessively critical as he was by nature and education, 
he never criticised his father. Following the same line of study 
and thought he brought to bear upon them a keener perception, 
more profound study, and a far more disciphned mind, for he 
was a university graduate, while his father was almost entirely 
home-taught or self-taught. Consequently, in music, poetry, 
painting, and style, in theology, in ecclesiology, and in wit, he 
covered more ground than his father. 

But he owed to his father the early direction of his studies and 
his thoughts. He went only in the path his father pointed out 
to him, and he followed this to the end. 

His father's disposition was austere and dictatorial, whereas in 
him these elements, without loss of their strength, were softened 
by the warm feelings and sympathetic affection inherited from 
his mother into gentleness and winning sweetness. He per- 
suaded and converted ; that is, in his peisonal intercourse, 
whereas his father compelled by sheer force of weight. His 
father never had an intimate friend ; but Henry, to give him his 
home name, was never without his devoted friend, whom he re- 
tained his whole life long. 



CHAPTER II. 

1831-1842. 

When Rev. Mr. Hopkins became Assistant Minister in Trin- 
ity Church, Boston, he took up, as his chief duty, Seminary 
work, at Cambridge, not very far from Harvard College. He 
had also a few private pupils whom he was bringing up with his 
own sons. This was in 1831. But the progress of time brought 
about the election of Dr. Hopkins to the office of Bishop of 
Vermont, and of Dr. Doane as Bishop of New Jersey. They 
were consecrated along with Drs. Mcllvaine and B. B. Smith, 
October 31, 1832, at St. Paul's Chapel, New York. 

In due time, with his family. Bishop Hopkins removed from 
Cambridge to Burlington, Vt. He felt that Church education 
was needful in Vermont, which had no Church wealth or 
strength to begin with, and was losing by every fresh move- 
ment of the people toward the great West. So no time was lost 
in making a beginning for a school. To the house bought for 
his family were added wings for the school, and in the main 
building was the Oratory, larger and more beautifully finished 
than the one in Pittsburg. Henry's precocity made him helpful 
to his father at a very early age. At fourteen he was a tutor in 
the school, the first " Vermont Episcopal Institute," which had 
among its pupils seventy or eighty boys. He heard classes in 
Latin and French, and had to do his share of the flogging ! He 
was generally active in carrying on the discipline of the school, 
and in all its work, and was, in short, a trusted coadjutor. Be- 
sides his classes in Latin and French, he exercised the trained 
skill of a born artist in teaching drawing. He was also a mem- 
ber of the school orchestra, playing beautifully on the flute and 
bugle. His father gave him charge of boating excursions on 
Lake Champlain. Besides helping in the school, he taught in 
the Sunday-school and sang in the church choir. 

He matriculated at the University of Vermont in 1835, and 
graduated with honors in 1839. He delivered the Commence- 



12 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1831-42. 

ment Oration in the presence of Henry Clay, a circmxistance 
which he often recalled with pleasure.^ 

If it had been possible for him to have received the training of 
one of the great universities of more recent times, with the varied 
elective courses showing entrancing visions to the hopeful minds 
of young men, it is possible that with his sympathetic mind and 
his natural keenness and thirst for knowledge, he might have 
been led away into broader fields of knowledge than those upon 
which he did roam. But here again the early home training in 
its rather narrow channel, but filled with the sweetness of the 
humanities, served him in good stead, and the training in the 
classics and mathematics on the old plan gave him that best and 
truest culture that means not so much the mere acquaintance with 
facts as a mastery of their co-ordinating laws, and skill in the art 
of thinking and the power to attain a knowledge at any time of 
whatever one needs. He mastered the classics and French and 
German, and read everything he could lay his hands on. He 
began to form here the literary style which, seizing the point at 

* He " proceeded " to his Master's degree in 1S45, and presented for that 
degree a Dissertation on Theories respecting the Site of the Terrestrial Par- 
adise. It lies on the table here now — thirty-six quarto pages long— written 
in the prettiest and clearest hand imaginable. It is a very amusing compo- 
sition, and must have made the Professors giin time and again, for it is full 
of his own quaint, dry humor. The amount of reading its preparation in- 
volved was enormous, for it is full of long quotations from such writers as 
St. Irenseus, St. Athanasius, Philo the Jew, St. Basil, Epiphanius, in Greek ; 
and from Hardouin's Collection of Councils, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, 
St. Isidore, St. Gregoiy, St. Bernard, St. Jerome, Geropius Eecanus, " that 
puffed-up Dutch bladder, one of the most singular compounds of learning, 
vanity, ingenuity, impudence, and nonsense that ever wrote Latin to prove 
that Adam spoke Dutch," Ven. Bede, Tertullian, Petavius, Ladovicus Ca- 
pellus, Salmasius, Cellarius, in Latin, besides a Latin version of St. Chrys- 
ostom's words on the subject, and a few lines from St. Thomas Aquinas, and 
Tostatus, and many other quotations. 

He says in the beginning that there ^xejive theories as to the site founded 
on the Mosaic account : 

1. Theories celestial, allegorical and mystical ; partly suggested by, and 
partly confounded with, the celestial Paradise. 

2. Those placing Paradise in the Moon, or her vicinity, or the air ; which 
therefore may be called theories lunatic, or atmospheric. 

3. Those placing our first parents in various parts of the world, away 
from Tigi-is and Euphrates ; theories mundane at large. 

4. Those selecting particular places near Tigi-is and Euphrates ; theories 
mundane approximatory. 

5. Theories maintaining that the site of Paradise is not now in our Earth, 
or cannot certainly be established ; to which latter I incline myself ; theories 
neeative. 



1831-42.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 13 

issue at a jump, revealed it even to the dullest of those to whom, 
with his intimates, he good-naturedly gave the name of '' the 
stupids," and with all its directness of purpose and its imperturb- 
able good-nature made t\\Q flavor of his writings worthy of re- 
mark. He wrote verses, too, as all men of imagination and feel- 
ing do at this time of life, and some of them are well worth 
reading. One of them is set down here from the collected edi- 
tion of his ' ' Poems by the Wayside : ' ' 

CUPIDON A LA ChASSE. 

" From Paphian bowers, where murmuring fountains flow, 
Young Love, all eager to the chase departs. 
Life's day is dawning : blithe with hope he starts, 
While Childhood's dreams are not yet flown. But lo ! 
Where flowers were dreamed of, thorns and thistles grow! 
Soft rosy smiles adorn his youthful face ; 
Before is seen bright Hope and beaming Grace : 
The keen darts lurk behind — steeped in sharp woes ! 
The fire that forged them lit at woman's eyes ; 
The breath that gave the dead coals life, hot sighs ; 
Tempered in tears were they ; their barbed tips 
Envenomed in the dew of woman's lips ; 
The string that wings his shaft is woven of woman's hair : 
Is he a god or fiend ? He's both ! My soul, beware ! " 

The date of this sonnet is 1838, and it shows not only real 
poetic fancy and some literary skill in a boy of eighteen dealing 
with that mighty instrument wherewith '■'■ Shakespeare unlocked 
his heart," but also it reveals the subtle fancy and the sudden 
spring upon a central idea which appear again and again in after 
years of controversy. 

After his graduation he again assisted his father in the Insti- 
tute and in parochial work in St. Paul's, Burlington ; and began 
the study of law in a " little brick office," which is still standing 
in Main Street, Burlington. 

He continued thus during a part of the year 1840, and made 
good progress ; but the needs of the family induced him to go to 
New York, and so, in the early summer of that year he removed 
from Burlington to New York, and worked as a reporter, con- 
tinuing his law studies. 

The financial crisis of 1839 swept away all Bishop Hopkins' 
investments in the Vermont Episcopal Institute, and the school 
itself was closed, after futile endeavors to make some arrangement 
with the creditors. All the domestic expenses were governed by 



14 A Champion of the Cross. [1831-42. 

the most rigid economy. Except for the aid of a washerwom- 
an once a week there was no servant kept. Mrs. Hopkins' 
health was seriously impaired, and among the children at home 
the only daughter was but three years old. The boys, therefore, 
divided the work among themselves, and even the Bishop in- 
sisted on taking his share also, and for a few mornings came 
early and swept and dusted the two principal rooms occupied by 
the family. But this was too much even for their habits of un- 
questioning obedience, and, conspiring for a few days, they 
finally flatly rebelled, captured the broom, and established their 
domestic revolution ; he yielding at length and agreeing not to 
come down till time for prayers, and to let housework alone. 

At last the great house became the property of others, and in 
May, 1 84 1, no effort, owing to business depression, being made to 
procure a parsonage. Bishop Hopkins had to find a house where 
he could. The only dwelling then available at a rent \\dthin his 
means was an aged frame house so dilapidated that his family were 
its last tenants. 

Young John Henry at this time went through that change 
which comes to test most men and proves what their lives are 
to be. His mother, ever keen to see the best interests of her 
children furthered, had yet the good sense and Christian wisdom 
not to follow or question him too closely. But he wrote to his 
best loved brother, Edward, then a midshipman on the Brazil 
Station, concerning an elder sister — whose letter to himself he 
sent to Edward — " I expect you will find it full of all manner of 
godly comfort and advice, which ^^-ill doubtless turn to your 
soul's health and salvation. But (not to make a joke oi Religion, 
which .is not my intention), seriously, I do think Sister puts a 
leetle too much piety in her letters. The first I received from 
her after I reached the city was most of it a regular homily on 
one of the Scripture Parables, which she thought was peculiarly 
applicable to ;;/]- pai-ticular sins. I thanked her for the trouble 
she was at to bring about my repentance, but" thought that if she 
had been the parson instead of the parson's wifey \kiQ preachiiig 
would have come from her with a- little better grace." 

This was during the Log-Cabin and Hard Cider campaign, of 
1840; and Henry was as much excited as any one. In that 
same letter to Edward he ^^TOte : " Excitement is increasing all 
over the country. The most immense conventions that ever, 
were held in this country have responded to the Whig cause. 
Among innumerable others there was one at Burlington, Vt., a few 



1831-42.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 15 

weeks ago where there were present from fifteen to twenty thou- 
sand. . . . The elections are going in our favor all over 
the country. Louisiana has just been heard from — beat the 
Locos confoundedly ! I have strong hopes that every State in 
the Union will go for old Tip next fall, unless perhaps, New 
Hampshire and South Carolina, but even they are not desperate. 
Hurrah for Harrison ! ! !" This letter was dated New York, July 
24, 1840. Soon after he went home for a visit, but finally 
decided to remain at home, and help his father retrieve his 
fortunes. Writing to Edward again, August 31, 1840, he says : 
" I am such an indispensable article at home. Mother is so un- 
happy when I am away, and my brothers so uncomfortable, that 
they will never willingly consent to my going off again. Father's 
plans, too, in which my co-operation will be required are so inter- 
esting and various, and will as we so confidently hope be so 
money -making, that the chance of my earning my living at home 
seems stronger than by going abroad again. We hope by lithog- 
raphy and school-books to earn in some years enough to save 
the farm from the general sacrifice of father's property, and then 
finally live — raising only what we want for our own consump- 
tion, and keeping all together — and when any of us children get 
married and have families of our own we will build us houses on 
some part of the farm not very far from the father-house, and 
shady winding roads will lead radiating from the paternal man- 
sion to the houses of his children ; and we will still be all like 
one great family. And there we can carry on our lithography 
and our book-making, and you can go on with your farming with 

C or E or your little E. to carry on the dairy, and 

have as many sail-boats and as much fishing as you want. Isn't 
it a glorious plan ? No tarnatio7i boarding schools to bother a 
body eternally with other peoples' children ; and not near enough 
the village to be curtailed in our liberty of doing whatever we 
please for fear of other people seeing us. And then we will have 
an oratory there, as far ahead of this, as this is of every other 
[for at that time they still lived in the original great house], and 
all will be peace and happiness, won't it Ned? and won't you 
be one of us ? Catch me going to law when such a chance as 
this is in my reach, and catch you in the Navy when you might 
enjoy it too, that's my notion. We have not bee7i brought up 
like other people, and we can ftever be happy to live like other 
people. We may try it, and try it, but we will always sigh for 
home again, and long to be back there, and we will come back 



1 6 A Champion of the Cross. [1831-42. 

there at last Ned — all of us — see if we don't, for that is the only 
place where we can all be happy. But still we must not be in 
too great a hurry about all this. We cannot yet call the farm 
ours, much less dream of building a house on it. We must 
work and make money, and you must wait till you can retire 
from the schooner of war Enterprise with honor and credit, 
and without wounding the sensibility of your friends. If pos- 
sible lay up a little money to fetch you home again. Above 
all things keep out of duels. Because if you get bored through 
the head or heart by a bullet it is rather improbable that 
you would ever live with us on the farm, and it would spoil 
your fun effectually — and to be winged is also disagreeable. 
What is it after all that a bullying blackguard fool should call you 
a coward ? Is not his abuse more honorable than his praise ? 
Would you have him speak well of you, and call you a whole- 
souledi^o^sl But after all, if by temperate, moderate, forbear- 
ing, and gentlemanlike demeanor you cannot keep clear of diffi- 
culty with your brutish fellows, and in your profession, I know 
it is almost impossible to do so, there is one antidote almost in- 
fallible — take every opportunity to practise with the pistol till 
you are a thorough dead shot, and then take care that the fact be 
generally known and acknowledged, and I'll warrant you won't 
have duels enough on your hands to trouble you much, and you 
will not be obliged to keep up that rascally misnomer of honor, 
to place your dear life, and the only one you have, at the risk of 
every bully that chooses to give himself a little importance by 
blackguarding or insulting those who are superior to his villai- 
nous self. . . . Whiggery is almost everywhere triumphant, 
and everywhere gaining. Indiana, Kentucky, and North Caro- 
lina have each given a majority of from ten to twelve thousand 
for old Tip ! To-morrow is election day here, and I will not 
close this without giving the result in the margin. Even in the 
States that have gone for Van, his majorities are so wofully slim 
that it is as good for us as a victory. In B. here we have a log- 
cabin, and a flag flying all the time. Good-by, dear Ned. I 
dare scarcely hope that we can see you soon, but in the meantime 
take plenty of hugging and kissing from me in imagination, and 
believe me, as you know me, ever your most loving brother. P. S. 
— Tuesday evening : Whiggery goes through all the State with a 
perfect looseness ! 

J. H. H., Jr. 



1831-42.] Life of Jo Jin Henry Hopkins. 17 

Of this time there is a letter from his mother to Edward, in 
which she says : ' ^ Dear Henry is becoming so nimble about all 
kinds of housework that he almost. seems a substitute for Matilda. " 
Henry vvTote again to Edward, November 20, 1840, that ^' old Tip 
is certainly elected President of these United States. Three cheers 
for him, and God bless him ! Thus far only two States have gone 
for the Kinderhook Dutchman. . . . There has been a grand 
flag embroidered by the ladies of the West and South which is to 
be presented to the State giving the largest proportional majority 
for the hero. Little Rhode Island gave about 2,000 majority out 
of 8,300 votes — about 24 J^ per cent. — and she claimed the flag, 
the saucy little minx ! But she had not heard f'om Vermont. 
The Green Mountain State fired a big gun that was loaded with 
14,500 majority out of over 50,000 votes cast, about 28 per cent., 
and I'd like to see any State stick a pin above that ! There is not 
a State in the Union that can come anywhere near it ! The Swit- 
zerland of the Union, the topmost rung in the Whig ladder, the 
only State that never bowed the knee to Baal — thaf s little Ver- 
mont .^ " 

He goes on to describe the meetings held in the ' ' log-cabin ' ' 
built at Burlington for the campaign, and mentions "a very comi- 
cal song : ' Van, Van, Van is a used-up man ' coming in at the 
end of each verse. ' ' At the last meeting of all, after election, 
' ' a resolution to sell the log-cabin and give the proceeds to the 
poor was passed by three cheej's ; directions were given about re- 
ceiving that flag, and then they closed with the song, ' Did you 
ever hear of the Farmer, whose cabin's in the West,' and then 
they dispersed to meet again for a grand jollification on the 4th 
of March next." 

The poverty of the home is revealed to Edward in this letter : 

" We have had a great change in the family lately. We have 
no '■ help ' at all. Mother and Theodore do the cooking. 
Aunty and Clem, the nursery and chamber-work, Caspar the 
stable and piggery business, and father and I are sweepers and 
dusters, and I am the woodman. It takes up, of course, much 
more of our time, and there is not so much studying as there was, 
but we are more comfortable. We had a good apple harvest, 
potatoes tolerable, but the cabbage was almost all eaten up by 
the cow. We got fifty head, however, from the farm, and made a 
barrel of sour- crout, which is almost fit to eat. There is now a 
strong probability, if not certainty, that we will begin a plain, 



1 8 A Champion of the Cross. [1831-42. 

substantial stone house out on the farm early in the spring, and 
move out there about June or July. It takes desperate economy 
to squeeze out enough money for it — a great deal of the carpen- 
ter work in the new house will have to be done by ourselves, of 
necessity, and many parts of it will look rather unfinished for 
years to come, perhaps. But no matter — we can work it all out 
by and by, and at last it will be a truly splendid place. The 
site selected is on the high ledge of rocks commanding a view of 
the Green Mountains, capped with snow, the college and all 
Burlington, the bay and the lake north and south, and all the 
valley of the Onion River, with the mountains in New York be- 
sides ; a far more splendid prospect than even the one we have 
from here. Oh ! it will be glorious ! but we must work 
for it ! 

"■ I have begun at lithography, and helped father considerably 
in making the drawings on stone for the numbers of the Vermont 
Drawing Book. In the new house I shall have a little work- 
shop with a lithographic printing-press, and carry on a good busi- 
ness, I hope, and helj) to make money. I have also been read- 
ing in law three times a week to Judge Bennett, whom I like 
very well, and who has been very kind and attentive to me 
indeed. I shall learn more law at this rate in one year than I 
could or would in the city in three. 

'' Caspar has been fattening our pigs for kilhng for some time 
past, and yesterday they were slaughtered. The sow weighed 
nearly two hundred pounds, and the hog two hundred and 
sixty, all cleaned and cut up, which is pretty good for Cass. 
To-day we are busy making lard, hogs-head cheese, and all those 
good things, and even now, while I am writing, I hear the clat- 
ter of the sausage-knife downstairs, bringing savory anticipations 
to my mind, and water to my mouth. Do you ever have first- 
rate roast pig and sausages in South America ? I hope so ! " 

The removal here spoken of to the spot afterward called Rock 
Point, came about through the boys going there '' to cut pea- 
rods to bush peas in the garden. ' ' The excursion was a familiar 
one, but once when they went over the hill, then just stripped of 
its timber, the glorious view aroused all Henry's enthusiasm for 
the beautiful — it was like a revelation. Returning home he in- 
spired the same excitement in his father, and he went the next 
day with the boys to the same place, and felt the same thrill of 
rapture, and began to glow with the idea that perhaps means 



1831-42.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 19 

might be contrived to secure the rough-looking spot of rocky 
ground, and build some sort of homestead there. Bishop Hop- 
kins thought it his duty, for the sake of his boys, to make the 
attempt, and finally succeeded in making terms for the purchase 
of the land. And so, the whole family, at least those who 
could, set to work home-making. 

The story of those days reads like the tale of the Swiss Family 
Robinson on their desert isle. Every day the boys walked out 
from Burlington, and worked all day blasting and quarrying 
rocks ; clearing away trees, stumps, and bushes ; hauling clay, 
glazing windows, lathing, shingling, flooring, grinding paint, 
painting, sodding, planting trees, and doing their best to change 
that wild place, which had been called " Sharp Shins," into a 
place fit for human habitation. Henry did his full share of all 
this work, although manual labor was not at all to his taste or 
according to his training, and at last, on the first of December, 
the new house was occupied, though the walls were yet very 
damp, and the finishing and furnishing quite incomplete. 

It was dreary at times to see the snow-storms roll over the tops 
of the young pine forest below the hill, and to find communi- 
cations with the village shut off by snow-drifts for days together ; 
but the logs were piled only the more cheerily upon the open 
fireplace, and hard labor and affectionate good humor turned all 
hardships into happiness. Slowly, the rough place began to put 
on the beauties of cultivation. All this toil was lightened 'and 
brightened by Henry's genial humor. He made himself enter- 
taining to all sorts of people, his life through. A man was a 
man with him, and he would as wilhngly sit down by the side of 
the workman for his noonday meal or to smoke his pipe, while 
the laughter at his flow of jokes and stories rose on the air, as to 
be the guest of a bishop. 

This work was done in the summer and autumn of 184 1. He 
writes to Edward from New York, October 20th, of that year : 

'' Father came down with me to attend General Convention, 
which has been sitting precisely two weeks and adjourned last 
night at eleven o'clock, and it has kept father so busy that I 
have had but little intercourse with him — only catching a glimpse 
of him, and exchanging a few words once a day. As for myself, 
I have been at Endicott's Lithographic establishment, where 
I have made myself master of nearly all the details of business, 
preparing the stones, drawing, printing, engraving, transferring. 



20 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1831-42. 

making crayon ink, varnish, etc., etc. ; no small job for the time, 
I assure you. When we left home the new house was all snugly 
roofed in, the inside was partitioned and lathed, and nearly all 
the first coat of plaster was on. I had painted the whole, and 
puttied more than half the window sash, making the putty my- 
self. I brought down with me some of my poetry and music, 
thinking that, what between magazines and the publishers I 
might make enough to buy me some German books and a pair 
of pantaloons. I have walked to and fro about that business be- 
tween twenty and thirty mites, and I don't believe I shall make a 
stiver out of the whole lot after all. ... I have seen John 
and Arthur and Henry Carey since I have been here. They 
are all taller than Caspar ! Such a race of Brobdignagians you 
never saw. John is learning all about the manufacture of iron ; 
Arthur is studying theology at the General Theological Seminary, 
and is one of the most serious, learned, and estimable characters 
of my acquaintance. Henry is the tallest of the set. They 
used to call him ' Tiny ' you remember ; they don't nowy 

The Bishop himself wrote to Edward, December 8, 1 841, of 
having settled in the new house on the first of the month, and 
that Henry had attained "all the mechanical skill which the 
work of lithography requires. We purchased a first-rate press 
and stock of stones, with all other necessary implements, and he 
is now going to work on a plan of the to^^'n of Burlington, which 
had been suggested as the first of a set of similar plans for all the 
towns in the State. This work will, we trust, be a source of con- 
siderable income, and go a great way in due time, to make up for 
old losses. ' ' The farm was managed by one after another of the 
sons, as they grew older ; Henry being ever the stay of all, and 
the trusted counsellor of all, both old and young. Out of the 
most dismal situations his buoyant good-nature found material for 
fun. Incongruities and antitheses he always saw, and his keen 
sense of the ridiculous brightened up all about him. One morn- 
ing, while he and two of his brothers were at work on the Rock 
Point farm, digging potatoes, he caught sight of a wretched old 
horse, so lean that Bro^^-ning's words — 



" One stiff blind horse, his every bone astare, 
Stood stupefied, however came he there ! 
Thrust out past service in the devil's stud J 



1831-42.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 21 

— With that red gaunt and colloped neck a-strain, 

And shut eyes underneath the rusty mane ; 

Seldom went such grotesqueness with such woe," — 

best describe him. Henry saw the whole thing at a glance, but 
ever delighting in an antithesis, he began, suddenly, to recite 
Dryden's Alexander's Feast : 

' 'Twas at the royal feast for Persia won .' 

The Other two stopped their work and listened to the beautiful 
poetry, which they had never heard before, when Henry, seeing 
them completely absorbed and swayed (as Timotheus in the poem 
sways the feasters) by the power of the measures, suddenly point- 
ing, cried out, '' Look at that horse ! " The transition was too 
much, and all three rolled upon the ground in paroxysms of 
laughter. 

One morning he and his brother Caspar walked out to Rock 
Point in complete silence. Caspar was moody, because his 
father had been scolding him for cutting down a young oak-tree 
without getting orders to do so. He felt outraged that he should 
be upbraided when he was doing his best for his father, working 
every day and all day to help him, and he had nothing to say, 
even to the favorite Henry, while the fit was on. When the two- 
mile walk was done, and as they were about to begin work, Henry 
(who had kept complete silence, too), quietly sidled up to him, and 
laying his hand on his arm, said, " Cass, if you don't mind, I have 
a notion of doing you a great favor." " What is it? " growled 
Caspar. ''Why," he replied, '' I will not repeat to any one a 
single word of all you have said this morning." How could 
Caspar keep back a smile which opened the way for a return to 
good-humor ? 

But such labors brought no return of money, and the Bishop 
was heavily involved in debt by the failure of the Institute, and 
this burden was increased by the making of the new home, and 
the purchase of the new farm and farming tools. His whole in- 
come from all sources amounted to but about fifteen hundred 
dollars. Henry had given up his law studies, and had no means 
to support himself as a student. Within a year, too, a disease of 
the throat had arisen which made him lose the natural tone of 
his voice. It was a disease of the windpipe which no medicine 
or application could reach, and it was hoped that a change to a 
warmer climate might benefit him. By the time that the family 



22 A Champion of the Cross. [1831-42. 

were in the new house the disease had increased so much that, 
although he was, as his mother said in a letter of that date, '' a 
son whose sweet society and constant, lovely disposition seems 
to be the life and comfort of the whole family, especially of his 
father, who justly calls him ' his companion, his own familiar 
friend,' and so indispensably useful to us that to make up our 
minds to part with him was indeed painful, but the only alterna- 
tive left us." Accordingly he thought of going to the Episcopal 
Institution in Georgia, which was in charge of his oldest sister, 
Mrs. Fay ; but finally he went to Savannah to be tutor to the son 
of Bishop Elliott, of Georgia, and to act as the Bishop's pri- 
vate secretary. 

From this tutorship he received for two years a thousand dol- 
lars per annum, and during those two years he sent his father 
regularly eight hundred dollars a year to relieve that father of 
his burden of debt. This sort of generous action never came 
amiss to him, for he was through life the most unselfish and self- 
sacrificing of mortals. 



CHAPTER III. 

1843- 

During this long absence from home he wrote to his father a 
series of letters so brilliant, witty, graphic and touching in their 
sincerity and freshness that they were cherished like heirlooms. 
It would seem as if no pen could be clearer than his, even in 
those days of his early manhood, but like the artist he was, 
since he wrote for the loved ones at home, he put into them pen- 
and-ink sketches that were used for years in the family school as 
patterns for drawing lessons. Some of the letters are given here : 

"Brig Augusta, May 15, 1843. 

" I spent a very agreeable evening at with Mr. B . 

He is one of the most amusing men I ever met, and his conver- 
sation is quite an intellectual treat. One gets a great deal of in- 
formation from him, and in a most witty and pungent form, but 
very little instruction. The Rev. Mr. Cook, Dr. Milnor's assist- 
ant, was also here; he is a very handsome, pleasant little man, 
dresses in a clerical cassock, which is very becoming, and seems 
to be a truly good and pious man. He often tried to temper 

down the sharpness of Brother B 's tongue, but only got a 

little good-natured abuse for his pains. The old gentleman when 
he is on the subject of popery, or the Tracts, or strict Episcopal 
government, or the Bishops * Bhuiderdonk, as he calls them, goes 
it with a perfect looseness, to use a cant but expressive phrase. 
We wound up the evening with some very nice hot whiskey 
punch, but that was after Brother Cook went away. Wasn't it 

clerical ? I lent Mr. B your second letter to Bishop Kenrick 

and your Miller Sermons to read. But unfortunately he went up 
to Sing Sing the next day and I haven't heard of them since. 

''Another pleasant evening I spent at Mr. Carey's with Mr. 
Samuel Carey, Arthur, Henry, and the ladies. ... I think 
the most delightful day of my visit was spent at the General 
Theological Seminary with dear Arthur, who is to be ordained 

* /.<?., the two Bishops Onderdonk — one the Bishop of Pennsylvania, the 
other of New York. 



24 A Chainpio7i of the Cross. [1843. 

next June. I found him with a large foHo vohime of Cotelerius' 
edition of the ' Apostohc Fathers ' open before him, and spent 
the whole day with him, dining and supping at their common 
table. A good part of the time we passed in the library, where 
my bibliomaniacal eyes were refreshed with the sight of a real 
CompluteJisian Polyglott ! and Walton's London Polyglott ! but 
unfortunately, without the subsequently inserted dedication to 
Charles 11. The first dedication was to Old Noll, who admitted 
the paper for it free of duty, but as the Restoration took place 
before the edition was fully put out, that was destroyed and a 
new one to Charles II. was hastily printed on inferior paper and 
inserted in some copies which are very rare. What is rarest of 
all is to find a copy with both. We saw, too, a singular copy of 
Law's translation of ' Jacob Behmen ' (the same edition is in the 
U. V. M. Library) which had been filled with marginal notes all 
through by some enthusiast, about the year 1789, who imagined 
he had had direct revelations from the Deity. The Acta Sa?tc- 
toriwi, too, and many other interesting works I saw there for the 
first time. But after supper came the rarest treat of all. I at- 
tended Evening Prayer in the Chapel, where the psalms for the 
day (the 4th, Evening Prayer) were chanted throughout by the 
students, in alternate verses, one half of the choir singing one 
verse and the other the other (I being one of them, for I could 
not help it) and both joining together in the Gloria Patri. It 
was delightful ; and the view out of the window, the red sun 
sinking behind the flat hills of Jersey, and blinking pensively over 
the rippling Hudson added yet another and right welcome charm. 
I felt as if I should like never to leave that ugly chapel till I could 
go where I could hear the like, or better, for the music was not 
Jirst-iditQ. After service I went up again to Arthur's room, where 
we talked about the classics and Latin poetry, and read together 
some beautiful odes of Catullus, and some Latin poems, I think 
by Bou7'Jie, which are the prettiest things I ever read not written by 
a real Roman. Between eleven and twelve o'clock Arthur said 
he would accompany me as far doA\Ti as St. Luke's. We went 
several squares further, and then I turned back and walked with 
him again as far as St. Luke's, where we parted, God bless him ! 

* ' I called on Dr. Hodges and introduced myself. I had a 
good deal of pleasant chat with him, and sang in St. John's choir 
in the afternoon of Sunday. He asked me to play on the organ 
after church, but I was really afraid to try the huge thing. I was 
longing to be at it when nobody was by but myself. I told him 



i843-] ^^f^ ^f y^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 25 

I would practise hard the next year, and play for him when I 
came back. I asked him about my being his assistant when the 
new Trinity is finished, and he seemed to like the idea well. I 
have little doubt that I could make it go, if I chose. I also called 
at John Jacob Astor's house and introduced myself to Dr. Cogs- 
well, who resides there, and is Astor's head counsellor about his 
proposed library. I had a long bibliographical chat with the 
Doctor, and have no doubt I could make myself one of the assist- 
ant librarians there, and probably go with the Doctor to Europe 
on a book-foraging expedition. That would be nice, wouldn't 
it ? But I would rather wait a little lo7iger and go with my dear 
father. Don't you believe it ? Another new acquaintance I made 
was a Mr. Balmanna, a Scotch virtuoso, to whom I brought a 
flattering letter of introduction from Mr. Smetz, who has a choice 
collection of rare books and many engravings in huge folios, and 
two folios filled with the original drawings. Was not that a treat ? 
'' Here we are now at anchor off the light-house at Savannah, 
waiting for the tide. The dirty water seems alive with fish. On 
every side of us the clumsy porpoises rolling their blunt snub snouts 
up into the sunshine, and with their nimble tails they whisk the 
muddy tide into a splash of dingy foam, and now and then the 
back fin of a shark peeps quietly out of the water, and glances in 
the sun. The air is calm, clear, and deliciously warm, and I wish 
I was at home. Ever, your own loving son, 

^' Henry." 

On the nth of June he wrote to a relative: ^' You must not 
take it amiss if I write to you a little sermon on the text of Pa- 
tience. Patience, dearly beloved, is a virtue rather gotten by 
practice and forced on by experience than born in us by nature 
or put on for pleasure, and when the natural parts are lively, the 
will strong, bodily and mental activity great, the blood young 
and hot, the temper warm and bold, imagination keen and ex- 
cursive, and experience and self-command small, that lesson of 
patience is wondrous hard to learn — is easier learnt by rote than 
by heart. But how necessary it is in this world ! I may vent- 
ure to say that there is not one man, not one woman, not one 
child, that does not desire many things they have not, and can- 
not have, at least for the present. And yet how few have the 
sense or the courage to be patient ; for it takes more cool cour- 
age to await an attack than to rush against the enemy. The 
reason of all this is that our desires and passions are infinite, 



26 



A Chautpion of the Cross, 



[1843. 



while we live in a world which is to most of us miserably cramped 
and finite, and we cannot get our full growth here, do what we 
will. But while in this cramped condition w^e often waste our 
huge force of passion on trifles. You are a man, and ought to 
look at things with the reasonable sobriety of a man's judgment. 
Get big ideas into your head, and you will not be so pestered by 
the little gnats of accident — you will not raise a hurricane to 
blow a fly off your nose, nor cast a thirty-two pounder to kill 
pismires. Another thing I want to warn you of is your awful fits 
of the dumps. They mostly arise from two sources : selfishness 
' turned sour, or inabihty in a weak mind to maintain its balance 
against external circumstances ; to which may be added a third, 
the idleness of a strong and active mind ; for in such cases it 
feeds on itself for lack of something else to do. . . . For 
my peroration I have two things to recommend : ist. Accustom 
yourself to look only at the bright side of everything and every- 
body but yourself, and look at yourself and your own failings on 
the dark side, chiefly, to keep down vanity ; but not wholly, to 
keep down melancholy. 2d. Learn to think less about yourself, 
and at the same time set a higher value on yourself I have no 
room to dilate, but accept the sennon as it was written in the 
spirit and deep feeling of one who loves you. . . . Did you 
ever know that the first Psalm-book published in true blue old 
Scotland has on the title-page somewhat thus : ' The whole buik 
of Psaumes in meeter, at the ende whereof will be fund empryntit 
ane bandy sang, etc' So at the end of my sermon I give you 
not a bawdy song, but a little school-boy round which I wrote 
the other day for my boys when they were grumbling over what 
they called a hard lesson." 



WMningly. 




lesson's so hard, and it's all new 
f Authoritatively. 



too! 



h^± 



s 



-^—V—)i^—V—V—^' 



:l 



study, study, study hard, and you'll get through ! 



i843-] -^^f^ ^f Johii Henry Hopkins. 27 

"Savannah, July 23, 1843. 

''My Dearest Father: This last week has been spent by 
me in a very pleasant manner. On last Monday morning I be- 
gan school with little Stephen Elliott alone, who was in a very 
bad humor because his father would not give him a holiday in 
the absence of all his schoolfellows. (John Hendrickson has 
gone north, taking ^50 or more from my salary.) The other 
pupils were all absent because invited by the Mongins to visit 
them at Dawfasks Island. Ste. was marvellously in the dumps 
and missed every lesson till about 11 o'clock, when the other two 
boys came in in high glee, to tell me that Mr. Mongin had in- 
vited me and Ste. to spend a week at the island. The Bishop 
consenting, I sent the two messengers to convey to Mr. Mongin 
the joyful intelligence that at one o'clock Mr. Hopkins and Ste- 
phen would be on the wharf ready to go on board ; and so we 
were, though Ste's supply of clothing, as it could not be gotten 
ready in time, was left behind to be brought over in the Cockspur 
boat in the afternoon or on the morrow. The weather was quite 
warm, but Mr. Mongin's boat had a nice awning, and we enjoyed 
our pull down the Savannah River very much. There were loads 
of fruit on board, and a large basket of ice packed up in cotton, 

and Mr. M had his rifle with him, with which he took a 

couple of shots — one at an alligator, and one at a crane, but both 
missed. However, just as we came in sight of the house, we saw 
an alligator with his head just above the water, asleep. We 

quietly pulled up pretty close, and Mr. M shot him in the 

eyes, he turned on his back, cocked up the white of his tail and 
his paws, and we rowed up and hauled him in. He was between 
four and five feet long, and stank awfully. 

" It was near four o'clock when we arrived at Bloody Point, 
the end of the island on which Mr. Mongin's estate is situated. 
In the old colony times, the government of South Carolina kept 
up a number of scout boats along the shores, to give notice of the 
approach of the Spaniards or Indians, who used frequently to 
make predatory excursions against the southern portion of the col- 
ony. These scout boats were once all surprised at this place by 
the St. Augustine Indians and the crews massacred to a man, and 
it has been called Bloody Point ever since. 

" Here we found a warm welcome and a good dinner. The 
place is beautifully situated on the narrow end of the island, with 
the sea before it and New River, an arm of the sea, behind it. 
There is a great lack of large shade trees, but there is any quantity 



28 A Champion of the Cross. [1843. 

of them set out ; and in a few years you will meet in every direc- 
tion around the house avenues of wild olive, cedar, catalpa, ole- 
ander, and other trees, which will not only afford delightful 
shade, but some of them will also load the breezes with the most 
exquisite perfume. The house is surrounded with flower-gardens, 
and all varieties of shrubbery. There are no fences in sight, 
but in the immediate vicinity of the house are more than five 
miles of hedging. It is not the white thorn, but the casena, 
which flourishes near salt water. They clip it carefully twice a 
year, and it looks like a solid square wall of green. 

' ' The sea-breeze was delightful and exhilarating, especially to 
me, and after dinner we took a pleasant sail in one of Mr. 

M 's sail-boats. The wind was fresh, the waves gave us 

now and then a good splashing in our little boat. As we re- 
turned the boys said that as they were so wet already they might 
as well go in all over with their clothes on. I told them ex- 
pressly not to do so, as did Mr. M , but nevertheless they 

stayed behind and did it, and after they had dabbled about to 
their own satisfaction they came sneaking home after supper, 
dripping from top to toe, and with dirty bare feet, and were all 
three sent supper less to bed to pay for their fun. ' The next day, 
Tuesday, we kept school in the piazza from nine o'clock till about 
four, except that at high tide we took a delightful sea-bath in the 
surf, and that at about two o'clock we had dinner — a good din- 
ner, with three or four kinds of meat, fish and fowl, and as a 
dessert, water - melon, musk - melons, oranges, pineapples and 
bananas w^ere profusely spread before us. These latter we en- 
joyed two or three times a day besides. After dinner and school 
were over, we again repaired to the beach, and Mr. Mongin car- 
ried us over in his sail-boat to Cockspur, an island on the Georgia 
side of Savannah River (Dawfasks is in South Carolina). It is 
on this island the Government is erecting the Fort Pulaski, of 
which you have heard me speak. We were introduced to Captain 
Mansfield, the engineer in command, and to Lieutenant Alexan- 
der, his assistant, who were both very pleasant and obliging to us. 

Captain M has been there for about twelve years, ever 

since the fortification was commenced. . . . He led us all 
over the fort, explained to us all the plans of defence, showed us 
every part of the works, and I received not only amusement, but 
a good deal of instruction from him, as it was the first thing of 
the kind I had ever seen. When finished it will mount about 
one hundred and thirty guns, and will be sufficient to batter to 



i843-] ■^'^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins, 29 

pieces any hostile armament that may attempt to pass up Savan- 
nah River, or any of the creeks near it. 

" On Wednesday we kept school again out in the piazza, and 
took another dehghtful bath in the surf. I cut ray ' big-toe,' 
however, on an oyster-shell which was imbedded in the sand, 
which prevented my enjoying the salt-water again in that way. 
In the evening we had a fine storm. The wind blew about the 
house very much as it does at home, and the flashes of lightning 
from the dense masses of black clouds were truly magnificent. 
Not very much rain fell, which we regretted, as the plantation 
was much in need of it. On Thursday morning, before bre-ak- 
fast, I took a sketch of one of the garden walks, with one of 
those beautiful casena hedges. We kept school in my room on 
this day, and the day after, for though we kept in the shade of 
the piazza, yet as the sun would move around we were exposed 
too much to its heat. 

"In another excursion we visited two light-houses, and the 
Martello Tower. This last is a very curious structure built of 
tabby with walls ten feet through, only one small door, and no 
other openings but port-holes. It is two stories high, with strong 
magazines and a tank in the basement. It is finished at the top 
by tabby battlements, which are at present concealed by a cor- 
niced roof, to protect the walls from injury by weather. I took 
a sketch of the light-houses and another of the tower, making 
four in all that I brought away from the island with me. 

' '■ Ever your own son 

" Henry." 

" The walks all around are gravelled with oyster-shells, and 
very bare of shade-trees, and the glare reflected from them was 
so strong that we all found our faces becoming wofully sunburnt, 
whereupon took place divers anointings of tallow and cream 
which were very amusing and comical. I have brought home a 
fiery snout that has given off four or five coats of ragged skin, 
and seems to have as many more in reserve. In the evening, 
after dinner and school, I rode out in the carriage with Mrs. 
Mongin and Mrs. ElHott, to the seat of Mr. Stoddard, about 
four miles out by the roads through the fields. We passed a 
good deal of marsh ground densely timbered, and having an 
abundance of palmetto in the interior. The variety of forest, 
marsh, and cotton field made the drive quite pleasing. Mr. 
Stoddard's house is newer and handsomer than Mr. M 's. 



30 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1843. 

but the situation is not near so healthy nor beautiful, and in the 
laying out of the grounds cannot compare with it. It looked 
rather squally overhead just as we arrived there, so without stop- 
ping we rode home by the beach. The tide washing the sand 
makes a fine \\2sdL first-rate carriage road, better than one macad- 
amized, for it is never dusty. But in parts the driving is a very 
delicate business, for the beach is literally strowed with stumps 
of all sorts and sizes. We got home quite safe, however. Our 

evenings usually passed in this manner : After tea Mr. M 

and I smoked a couple of cigars a piece in the supper-room, 
while the ladies adjourned to the opposite parlor ; and while 
smoking, sometimes we chatted together, sometimes the children, 
all five of them (for little Ellen and Robbie were down there 
too, with their mothers) would crowd around me, and make me 
tell them stories. This evening I told them the history of 
Amadis de Gaul, and promised them one of BufTalmacco's 
pranks on Calandrino the next time (from Boccaccio's ' De- 
camerone '). ' Oh ! ' says little Robbie, * tell it now ! ' ' No,' 
I said, ' what should I do next time I want to tell you a 
story ? ' ' Oh ! ' says my little Paddy, ' the next time you need 
not tell us any at all ! ' So to pay him for such a genuine bull 
I told him the story. After our smoke I used to go and chat 
with the ladies, and play for them on the piano or the flute. 
We had watermelons, bananas, and pineapples again at about ten 
o'clock ; after that, to bed with what stomach we had left. 

" We filled up the last evening with another excursion to 
Cockspur. The distance is about five miles, and as the wind was 
not very fair, and the tide against us, we did not sail very rap- 
idly. Mr. M himself with one negro went in a hght little 

sailing skiff, which could not well hold more than two. We went 
in the yawl, that is, the three boys, myself, and three negroes, 
Henry, Charles, and old Uncle Monday. 

'' Henry, being the most experienced sailor, was put in com- 
mand by his *■ Massa,' and away we went. Mr. M soon out- 
sailed our lumbering craft. The whole river is nearly filled with 
sandbanks. The tide was now on the ebb, and we ran into the 
breakers twice before we got over. We left Cockspur at a quarter 
before seven o'clock, the evening dark and cloudy and the wind 
pretty fresh, and from such a direction that we had to take a 

tack to get home. Mr. M , though he could have outsailed 

us at once, kept near us, sailing round and round us, and thus we 
went on unconsciously a great deal farther on the down course 



1843] I^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 3 1 

than we ought to have done. Mr. M found himself in shoal 

water on a bank which he did not expect and did not recognize, 
and when once a little boat is among the breakers she has 
enough to do to look after herself. We too soon found ourselves 
running upon breakers, which we could see and hear distinctly 
about us. I told Henry to alter his course, as he would be in 
them in a minute. But these negroes are perfectly certain of 
their own presence of mind, and he declared he was just in the 
right course, and knew where he was going, etc., and hallooed 
to Charles and Monday to get out their oars, quick ! quick ! ! 
quick ! ! ! Out they got them after much scolding and confu- 
sion, and without changing course rowed us faster into the 
breakers than ever. We were instantly among them, shipped a 
good many of them, and, knowing there was no great danger 
except of a drenching, I was perfectly amused at the terror and 
vexation of our sables. Henry never would let on that he was 
frightened, but when we actually got on the bank he ejaculat- 
ed, ' The Lord have mercy upon us, what shall we do ? ' in 
a most pitifully doleful voice. Charles was terrified into dead 
silence and desperate rowing, so desperate that he soon rowed 
round old Uncle Monday, and we came out at the other side of 
the bank (it was not broad) after much scrambling, and with 
the boat's head turned to Tybee Light instead of Bloody Point. 

It was now quite dark, we had totally lost sight of Mr. M 

and he of us. He waited for us a long time, to no purpose, and 
as it threatened to blow too heavily for his little skiff, he sailed 
home, where in fact he did not arrive more than fifteen minutes 
before we did. 

' ' After getting through that bank we still held on our original 
course, and gallantly the rising breeze carried us through the 
water, which was sparkling and flashing with that beautiful sea- 
fire. Old Monday now began to growl from the bow that we 
were going too much to the right, and that Bloody Point was far 
away t'other side. Henry declared he was right, and thus they 
jawed away till old Monday's growls were drowned by the noise 
of another bank of breakers. Here again was the old poling, 
oars out, and row into the midst of the breakers as fast as possi- 
ble. Old Monday at every pull gave a mighty hoarse grunt, half 
from shortness of wind in his old lungs, half from vexation. After 
getting more wet than ever we at last got through, and then Henry 
made the grand discovery that we were three miles too far along 
the shore, and had left Bloody Point far behind us. He then 



32 A Champion of the Cross. [1843. 

laid all the blame on old Monday's eyes (though it was all his 
own obstinacy), and that made the old fellow more savage than 
ever. Even after this discovery was made they jawed away for a 
considerable time before they changed the course, and then we 
were so far in shore that with that wind it was impossible to make 
Bloody Point. At last, we ran aground for the last time, but as 
we struck a heavy sea capsized the boat, and sent old Uncle 
Monday into the surf to cool his rage, and it would have gone 
over completely had I not leapt to the windward side of the boat. 
The negroes soon carried me out on their backs, and set me 
ashore. Fred and Telfair were not at all frightened, but poor 
Ste. was awfully terrified, and clung to my hand with nervous 
energy. We found ourselves only a quarter of a mile from the 
house, where our arrival was a great relief to the ladies and to Mr. 

M . We changed our wet clothes, took a hearty supper, and 

talked about our adventure till bed-time." 

In a letter dated August 20, 1843, he relates with great gusto 
some of the characteristics of the household of Bishop Elliott. 
The whole family were ''great and practical teazers." To any 
one who ever knew John Henry Hopkins, with his radiant humor 
and fondness, nay, his natural proneness to use the weapon of 
sarcasm with deadly effect, it seems a very mild thing to say as he 
does, that " as there is always a good deal of wit and humor fly- 
ing, you will not wonder that I have in some degree fallen in with 
the stream, though I am yet so thin-skinned that I would rather 
laugh at a joke not made at my expense. ' ' From this he goes on to 
relate the inception of certain caricatures, sent back and forth be- 
tween two branches of the family. So he was set to work at these, 
with all his ingenuity and wit on the qiU vive. Of one he says : 

'' It cost me nine hours of hard work yesterday, has thirty 
figures in it, big and little, white, black, and yellow ; the officers 
are shining in gold lace, etc., and to see the Bishop and the whole 
family laugh at it when it was done was perfectly exhilarating. 
The Bisho.p would look at it, then lay it down, and throw himself 
back in his chair and ' haw ! haw ! ' then another look, etc. I 
do all this to exercise myself in designing the human figure, and 
in this I am rapidly improving. It sharpens my faculties of ob- 
servation famously. The Bishop says I could make a fortune at 
caricaturing, and they all call me another Cruikshank, with too 
many other compliments for me to repeat. 



1843.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 33 

" P.S. The Bishop takes no active part in all this. He only 
laughs heartily at all the jokes in both papers, and now and then 
suggests a happy thought to be executed by others. All my illus- 
trations are made to order, and I sometimes accompany them with 
epigrams, a style of composition very difficult, but very improv- 
ing in brevity, neatness, and point, and the Bishop says my poetry 
is on a par with my prints. 

When this letter reached his father, the Bishop of Vermont, it 
did not arouse the glee that was in the mind of the son, for the 
latter, in a letter dated September loth, writes : 

'' It was with great shame and sorrow that I read your last and 
severe letter of the 30th ult. , and discovered how far I had un- 
thinkingly been led astray. But still, dear father, I do not think 
it quite as bad as you imagined. I determined, however, to break 
off the whole affair at once, so far as I was concerned, though as 
I had been hitherto so free with my contributions, and both to 
our Beaufort and Savannah friends they had become so important 
a part of the correspondence, that I was puzzled to know how to 
withdraw without giving offence by my reasons. If I gave the 
true ones, passing an implied condemnation on others, and thus 
giving offence, or without giving false excuses (or such as were 
only partly true), which I could never think of doing. 

" I therefore showed Bishop Elliott your letter, and when we 
were alone he read it all over carefully and slowly, and then told 
me he agreed with you entirely, and that I ought to stop my part 
of it instantly. He said that when he was a young man his 
mind had taken that bent, and that he was always looking out 
for the laughable side of everything, and that he had then fool- 
ishly sharpened his sense of the ridiculous to such a degree that 
it still troubled him occasionally at the most solemn moments, 
and even sometimes in church. He said, too, that he had for 
some time felt that the thing was going too far, and had often 
thought he ought to tell me that I was devoting too much time 
and trouble to trifles, and growing lazy about what was of more 
importance, but that as finding fault was a disagreeable business 
he had hitherto delayed it. As to the others, he said that it 
amounted to little more than a correspondence of mutual pleas- 
antries between brother and sister and immediate relatives on 
both sides — and even that he would have stopped before now 

3 



34 ^ Champion of the Cross. [1843. 

only that he felt he could not exercise the same authority over 
his brother and sister, who were nearly of his own years, as he 
could have done over his own children. He assured me re- 
peatedly that in the character of my drawings and in their style of 
execution I had done nothing calculated to lower me in the 
esteem of any of my friends here. He gave me a great deal 
of good advice, and we had a very full and cordial conversation 
on the subject ; and when we bade each other good -night he 
shook me warmly by the hand, and for the first time in my 
life I kissed him, which he took very kindly, and promised to 
explain the matter to the ladies so that I should be tempted by no 
such requests in the future. 

*' I am very glad your letter has given me a fair excuse to 
break off this business. True, I believe I have profited by it in 
some respects : I have gained a freedom in designing the human 
figure with clothes on which I know I had not before, for I had 
confined all my little extempore scratches to faces and heads, and 
before I was put on this business it would hav^e puzzled me to 
draw a man, woman, or child so as to look natural. It has 
sharpened my eye too in the observance of nature — and indeed, 
dear father, I think it was incorrect to call them caiHcatiires, as I 
believe I did. With one exception, I did not at all transgress 
the modesty of nature, but only tried to come as close to the life 
as possible, and so far did I succeed in this that at least a dozen 
striking likenesses have been discovered when I never meant any, 
though when I did mean it it could not be mistaken. 

' ' Last Saturday week I saw a notable character among the 
passengers from Beaufort. I marked him well, and two or three 
days after I took him down, so that everybody that knew him ex- 
claimed at once : ' That's S R , hat, coat, whiskers, 

legs, and all over. ' Yesterday there was a large party, between 
forty and fifty, came down on an excursion from Beaufort to Sa- 
vannah, all members and friends of the family connection — and 
the whole party dined at Mr, Robert Habershaw's. I was there, 
of course, and from twelve o'clock till half-past three I heard 
scarcely anything else than thanks for, and compliments about, 
my drawings, and inquiries eagerly put about my next. I was 
told over and over what a great sensation they had created in 
that quiet little city, how they had been sent for, and sent round, 
till they had been all over the place. But with all this, which 
came entirely too thick for my modesty, I could not but perceive 
that among some of the thin-skinned ladies there was considerable 



1843.] Life of John Henry Hopki7ts. 35 

apprehension lest my attention should be attracted to them, some 
of them began to teaze others by telling them they were to figure 
in my next, etc. ; and one young lady said : ' Take care, Mr. 
Hopkins, the Beaufort ladies will quarrel with you.' ' Then I'll 
stop at once,' said I ; ' I don't know how to quarrel with ladies.' 
' Oh, no, no ! ' said she, avec beaucoiLp d' empi^essement, ' No, 
don't stop ! we had rather you would take us all off than stop ; 
that would never do. ' Besides, what I found very disagreeable, 
some hints were given me by friends that they wanted me to re- 
member how such a one looked, etc. So that I became con- 
vinced every moment, in spite of all their admiration, that you 
were right and I was wrong. . . . But one thing, dear 
Father, I have never done ; I have never made the House of God 
my studio, nor the Sabbath my practising day, for such things, 
and hereafter it shall be Sunday seven days in the week, as far as 
caricatures are concerned. 

'' Forgive me this once, dear Father, for I did not do wrong 
deliberately, and accept my thanks over and over again for the 
wise letter that stopped me before I had gone too far, for I should 
not have had firmness to stop myself. 

'' P. S. I wish my sorrow could make up for the pain I have 
given you about this foolish business. Dear Father, may I never 
again give pleasure to others or to myself at so dear a price as 
giving pain to you. 

''A kind of influenza called the Grippe is quite fashionable 
here now. Several in the house have had it, and my turn may 
soon come. 

The filial dutifulness showed in these letters never lessened in 
the least. A gentleman who travelled on the same steamer that 
brought the Bishop of Vermont and Henry home from the first 
Lambeth Conference, in 1867, observed once that he had lived 
long and travelled much, but had never seen anywhere such de- 
votion to a father as this son showed on that voyage. 

In a letter dated October 29, 1843, he says : 

'' I have just received to-day your interesting letter bringing 
me the welcome news that the first part of your series on the 
Tracts has gone to press. But I am sorry, dear father, it was not 
to be printed in New York by Appleton or the Harpers. I 
think they would have secured it a larger circulation. As to 



36 A Champion of the Cross. [1843. 

Bishop Elliott's order for fifty copies, I think he will renew it ; 
but as they are meant for general distribution amongst the laity, 
he prefers waiting till he reads his own copy, to find out whether 
you have not been too learned and prof oimd for the comprehension 
of Georgians in general. I shall look for it with great eagerness. 
Your last letter to me on the subject I showed to Bishop Elliott, 
who asked me to lend it him, to show to some of his friends, and 
it has created quite a sensation, passing all around the city, and 
more than one copy having been made ; indeed, I have not got 
back the original yet ; and everybody feels such glad confidence 
that now since Bishop Hopkins has taken up the Tractarians, 
they will get well dressed before you are done with them. 

*' . . . You must not give me too much credit for 
Hebrew. I only know some of the letters, and could make out 
all the words I wrote do^^^l in that extract, but I have not 
studied the language at all yet, I shall w^ait for that till I am 
settled at home. 

' ' Your new French honor will, I suppose, add three more 
symbolic initials to your name. You are now, I believe, D.D., 
F.R.S., N.A. — any more? I think that is a pretty respectably 
long tail for a comet as far gone in its aphelion as the Bishop 
of Vermont. 

'' . . . As to making money, unfortunately such a prom- 
inently necessary item in my plans, I am calculating somewhat 
on the profits of my Goethe, somewhat more on a small work on 
Ancient Geography for the use of schools, but most of all on your 
old plan of complete sets of lithographed drawing books, which 
all together OM^X. to make me more than the $500 I remit at 
present. 

[Of this Goethe which young Hopkins mentions here, he 
himself a few years ago wrote to a friend : '' As to Goethe, you 
will find a copy in the See House Library, with ^John Oxen- 
ford's ' name on the title-page. The second of the four parts of 
that translation is my work. The other three parts were done 
by Park Godwin, George Ripley, and Charles A. Dana. The 
preface states that they had intended to reprint the American 
version, but found that it was too incorrect ! And so they 
printed it with 'John Oxenford,' on the title-page, stealing 
our work almost bodily ! I had written the translation of the 
whole four volumes; then, after agreeing to go in with the 
others, taking Vol. 11. I revised and rewrote the whole of that 
volume. I also paid postage (very high then) on the proofs 



i843 ] Life of John Hejiry Hopkins, 37 

of the whole volume. For all this labor T never received one 
cent. But I owed the publishers a small bill for books, amount- 
ing to about ^26.50, which I steadfastly refused to pay ! " ] 

''I have some idea of publishing a volume of miscellaneous 
poems, of which I think I can muster enough to claim a re- 
spectable stand amongst the motley crew that crowd the little 
hillock ycleped the American Parnassus. If I publish poetry at 
all it will be under my Knickerbocker anagram J. Rheyn 
Piksohn. You know, dear Father, our patronymic hath a very 
proverbial prominence amongst unsuccessful candidates for the 
bays, and that not only at the time of Sternhold, and the Lord 
Bishop of Derry's sons (who, by the way, especially Charles, 
were no bad versifiers), but only a year or two ago some degen- 
erate sprig of the name published in Baltimore a volume of the 
most contemptible stuff, so as to keep up his antique namesake's 
unenviable reputation. My Goethe will appear under my own 
name, my Geography probably under none — I must not make it 
too deep or it will be unmarketable. 

''Talking about poetry, dear Father, I was yesterday night 
(the night of my birth-day — I am now twenty-three years old ! ) 
smoking my last pipe before gomg to bed, it was past 12 
o'clock, I was forecasting in my own mind my future life, and 
the way in which it is made so dependent on my throat : I 
confess my thoughts took rather a pensive turn — when I wrote 
the following lines, which I think will please you : 

** My hfe is like a freighted barque 
Within a sluggish bay, 
Over the smooth inviting main 
Ready to launch away. 

** But yet m vam to fill my sails 
The favoring breezes blow ; 
In vam to the port of my earthly rest, 
I turn my seaward prow 

" In vain along the other shore 
I see the loved ones stand, 
And beckon me over the briny flood, 
Home to my Fatherland 

" For bedded deep in solid ground 
At the bottom of ocean hoar, 
An anchor cast, still hugs me fast, 
To a flat and dreary shore. 



38 A CJianipion of tJie Cross. [1843. 

** But my CAPTAIN is on board with me, 
HE sees my longing state : 
Patience, my soul ! HE knoweth best — 
It is for thee to wait. 

** When at his command the anchor shall rise, 
And I ride the boundless sea. 
May HIS hand guide my little barque 
To the Haven where I would be. 

** And when, long tossed on the stormy waves, 
My wanderings all are o'er. 
Let me anchor at last, in the River of Life 
For ever and evermore ! 

'' I have been very industrious of late — week before last I did 
in five working days forty-five pages of Goethe, and last Friday 
evening I finished Volume III., and this besides keeping up my 
daily teaching. 

" Best love to all — mother, aunty, brothers, sisters, and all on 
dear Rock Point, for the architectural adornment of whose noble 
crags I am constantly building the most magnificent castles in 
the air. 

"I seal this with the new Episcopal seal of Georgia, ^^ which 
has just arrived from England — a large, heavy carnelian set in 
heavy gold. It is from my design. How do you like it ? 

*' Ever your loving son, 

''Henry." 



While he was a member of the household of Bishop Elliott, as 
was natural, he fell in love, and with one whose noble nature, 
generous heart, and pure soul, made her worthy of himself. But 
he was bound by his own sense of duty, which was ever the most 
authoritative voice in the world to him, to think of his father, 
and the needs of the younger members of the family. Free, he 
could do something which would not only give himself support, 
but also enable him to send the major part of his earnings to his 
parents ; while an engagement of marriage would of necessity 
force him to save enough to provide a home for his bride, and 
so cut off a source of revenue which would leave those dear ones 
at home in need. It was all before him, and although no one 
could have blamed him if he had simply followed his heart and 

* A copy of the Georgia Diocesan Seal could not be obtained. 



1843-] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 39 

offered himself, yet he never hesitated, and though, as he wrote 
in his verses, ''Athirst for Love," 

" 1 am athirst for love ! 

And yet, for two long years, 

Trembling with smothered hopes and fears, 

Have stood beside a bright inviting stream 

As if t'were all — a dream. 
Nor ever sank upon my knee, to dip 
Into the wave my parched lip ; 
But with a spell-bound eye, 

Stood still and watched that sparkling stream roll by. 
And now I go 
Far from the music of its placid flow ; 

And bid that yearning love I dare not tell — Farewell ! " 

This bitter in the cup of sweetness of those years, years which 
he always spoke of as the happiest of his life, wrung from him at 
last a poem, from which the last stanza is quoted. Yet it was 
as v/ell that he yielded to the call of duty, for she who had un- 
consciously gained his heart was already promised to another. 
Years afterward, when the news of her death reached him, he 
wrote of her this editorial notice in The Church Journal : '' The 
sad intelligence brings up before our memory the undimmed rec- 
ollections of twenty years ago, when it was our happiness to 
see what she was in that delightful home circle of the sunny 
South, which looked upon her as its chiefest ornament. It was 
not so much her beauty, or grace, or her easy and unpretending 
power in conversation, or her cheerfulness of spirit, flashing forth 
wit and raillery as the clear evening skies of summer send forth 
the innocent lightning : nor yet that, in her, all these were com- 
bined to form a perfect lady. But there was a further attraction 
— the solidity of her understanding, the depth and earnest 
strength of her character, w^hich was a latent power in her, 
shrinking far from the surface, and understood by only a few, 
though the mysterious magnetism of it was unconsciously felt 
by many who could see only the delicately veiled brilliance of 
her loveliness. All these last were surprised when she devoted 
herself to the foreign field in China ; but not so the few who 
knew her best. And those who have been members of that mis- 
sion can tell how the same wise and patient strength was the 
central magnet of the work, while nevertheless her name ap- 
peared in published letters and reports less frequently than any 
other. Only as health began to fail, and life to wear away into 



40 A Champion of the Cross. [1843. 

eternity, the mention began to be more frequent ; until now 
that she has passed beyond the power to hear us, we who knew 
her best can for the first time speak of her as she deserved. 
There now Hes buried on the desolate shore of the Red Sea [for 
she died at Suez on her way to this country] one of the noblest, 
purest, and best of the daughters of South Carolina." 

In all these letters, epigrams, sonnets, poems, and translations, 
we see the shaping of his mind for his hfe work. His strong, 
keen mind could not but seek expression for what it was full of, and 
yet that mind, with all its brilliancy and wit, and readiness for 
the encounter with like elements opposing it, with all its power of 
setting down its o^^-n thoughts, was not to be exercised in the field 
of pure literature. We see in these writings the first attempts of 
the litterateu7- ; but in them little of the perfection of \mtten 
thought with its close- woven web of argument embroidered with 
its OAMi rich fancies which fairly make the blood tingle A^ith the 
wit of the writer, or arouse to exasperation at his audacity ; and 
at last the burst of rollicking laughter as he ran you through and 
through, that made his writings so interesting in his riper years. 
That style was the result of careful study in his youth of the best 
models. He used to revel in South's Sermons, the Letters of 
Junius, the writings of Addison, Swift, Steele, Dr. Johnson, 
Burke, Shakespeare, Spenser, and rare Ben Jonson. He was 
delighted with Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson, and had always at 
his tongue's end any number of the sharp sayings and repartees 
narrated in that book. So, too, the study of the classics had a 
marked effect upon his style. For the sake of his own style he 
studied carefully Cicero, Quintilian, Sallust, Caesar, and Demos- 
thenes. He became a master in the Socratic method of argu- 
ment, and many and many a time in the wars of words which 
invariably arise when men of books and talk come together, 
he wound up an antagonist in the inextricable tangle of his own 
incautious admissions, and contradictory assertions. From such 
studies he learned the art of using his own powers which showed 
themselves in the time of his boyhood. 



CHAPTER IV. 

1843-1849. 

Naturally he was looked up to as a Mentor by all the family 
of children, and all points of scholarship were referred to him. 
His brother Caspar relates a tale that illustrates his aptness and 
kindness in using sharp weapons. Caspar had taken it into his 
head that he could write poetry, and gave himself up during his 
long vacation to writing a play in blank verse. When it was 
done it was submitted to Henry for his criticism. He kept it 
three days, and made no sign, though of course he knew his 
brother's consuming curiosity as to his opinion. On the fourth 
day he brought it to Caspar, saying, "Cass, I have read this 
paper through carefully three times. I have found one line which 
contains a poetical idea ! Where didyoii steal that from ? ' ' Poor 
Caspar was struck dumb by such an avalanche ; but Henry con- 
tinued, " Dr. Johnson used to say, if you cannot put fire into 
your works, better put your works into the fire " — pointing over 
his shoulder toward the stove. In a rage of mortified vanity 
and shame Caspar instantly crammed the manuscript into the 
stove, and watched it till all was burnt. As he turned sadly 
away he caught a glimpse of his elder brother's sparkling black 
eye, watching him through the open door ! Not another word 
was said, and Caspar was radically cured. 

After he left Georgia he went to Louisiana, where his sister 
Emily, Mrs. Charles Fay, had the care of a Church school in her 
husband's parish. But he did not remain there long, and only 
one incident of the time was related by his sister. He had whipped 
one of the boys, whose father, indignant at such an outrage, came 
in a towering rage with two riding-whips in his hands, and, burst- 
ing open the school-room door, thrust one into the grasp of Henry, 
at the same time dealing him a stinging cut across the face, crying 
out ' ' defend yourself ! ' ' Before a second blow could be dealt 
Henry had thrown his own whip down, and folding his arms, 
told his infuriated visitor to strike again, for he should not resist, 



42 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

because fie was a Christian ! Henry's reply sounds, it must 
be confessed, a little bit affected, but there was never such a 
thing as artificiality in his actions. At any rate the angry South- 
ron was soothed, and acknowledged the justice of the punish- 
ment given his child, and became a fast friend of young Mr. 
Hopkins. 

Returning from the South, Mr. Hopkins worked as a reporter 
in New York City on the Coiiric?' and Enquu-a-. He also 
painted miniatures on ivory, living in a very frugal fashion, and 
sending home every cent he could spare. He reported the de- 
bates of the General Convention of 1847, and of various other 
meetings of different sorts, political as well as religious. He 
never learned stenography, but A^Tote down his notes in long 
hand, reporting striking sentences as nearly word for word as he 
could, and kept the thread of the discourse in his memory by aid 
of rapid notes. Then, writing out his copy, very full and fresh 
reports were made, and since he had not only a well-filled, but 
also an appreciative mind, his reports probably gave ail that was 
worth reading of any debate. During all the years from his 
graduation from the University in 1839, till he entered the Gen- 
eral Seminary in 1847, he gave his whole powers to the helping 
of his father. It was for him that he taught, painted minia- 
tures, wrote reviews of books, articles for the magazines of those 
times (there were then no " literary agencies " to enrich writers 
who do not know their o^^^l tongue), or songs, both verses and 
music. 

For, during those years Bishop Hopkins was sorely pressed by 
poverty and he made great efforts to earn something by preparing 
elementary books for instruction in drawing : and the Vermont 
Drawi?ig-Book of Flowers and the Verinont Drawing- Book of Fig- 
ures were the result. These books were, as may be gathered from 
their titles, filled with colored plates of Vermont flowers and ani- 
mals, and it appeared with the name of the younger John Henry 
Hopkins upon its title page, and a large part of the work was his. 
But much the larger part of the work and the whole of the design 
were his father's. It took those who helped in the work two 
whole years to color the prints, but though Henry tried for day 
after day to sell the completed books to Young Ladies' Semi- 
naries and such-like schools, it was without avail, and the whole 
thing was a dead loss, which it took years to make up. But al- 
though he was so bitterly disappointed he did not lose his good 
humor and he wrote, but not for publication : 



1 843-49-] ^^f^ ^f y^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 43 



The Print Colorer's Lament. 

When a little boy I was sent to school, 

And after that to college ; 
So that my curly pate is full 

Of divers kinds of knowledge. 
Yet though for nobler purpose fit 
By lore acquired and mother wit, 
Dame Fortune, that mad, cross-grained wench, 
Has fastened me down to a table and bench, 
Where from breakfast time till I go to bed, 
Great piles of lithographs, high as your head, 

Before me stand ; 

While, brush in hand, 
And surrounded by saucers of various tints, 
I must bend to the labor of coloring prints ! 
And since the work drags till it seems, my friend, 
As if it had lost its latter end, 
I've leisure to brush up my learning never, 
Although I've a brush in my hand forever. 

E'en mixing the color is no slight job ; 

** Ay ! there's the rub ! " 
I've mixed for this everlasting daub, 
Enough to fill up a good-sized tub ; 
And laid it on, when by my crown, 
I'd a great deal rather have laid it down ! 
Still "paint, paint, paint ! " is the hue and cry, 
Until at length, so weary am I, 
That at every fresh hue I am ready to cry ! 

When I began (upon the green) 

I was but green, I own ; 
And with a careless hand and tongue 

I let the fact be known. 
But with the shadows thick laid on, 

Experience came, and, mark ! 
When to the deepest shades I came 

I knew how to keep dark. 

To rosy tints condemned for weeks 
No wonder that my once rosy cheeks 

Quite thin and pale have grown ; 
For, putting the pink on the roses' face 

Has taken the red from my own. 
From day to day 

I sigh away, 
To melancholy thoughts a prey ; 
For when toiling for months on the azure hues 

How can I choose 

But get the blues? 



44 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

The yellow adds no yellow boys 

To my small stock of pelf ; 
And I've been doing browns, mitil 

I am done brown myself. 
So that often to myself I say, 

Through the long day's dreary hours ; 
" My path of life is a thorny path, 

Though strewed so thick with flowers." 

Our troops, you know 

In Mexico, 
Have bravely met and thrashed the foe ; 

Three days they fought at Monterey, 
And in the fierce and fatal fray, 

A thousand Mexicans did slay. 
Now I my share of the glory crave, 
A soldier steady, true, and brave, 
For, during this long and desperate fight 
I ne'er forsook my colors day nor night. 

Now poor Tom Hood tells a pitiful tale 
Of a maiden forlorn, and hungry and pale, 
Who had no time for gadding about, 

Nor an hour for social chat. 
Whose whole life long was but sew-sew 

And bid fair to be short at that ; 
And what still worse in a maiden's eyes is, 
Although on shirts of all sorts and sizes 
She spent so many years of stitches. 
She could ne'er have a chance for wearing the breeches. 
Yet my predicament is worse. 
To all appearances, than hers — 
Now this is no joke, indeed it ain't ; 
I've too much color for my complaint ; 
While for hers no color at all could be seen 
(That is provided the shirts were clean). 

Nor is it enough that, day by day 
I lose my flesh and toil away 

With pockets never fuller — 
That close confinement makes me ill, 
And with declining health, that still 

My wit grows daily duller — 
My vote they mean to take away, 

Because that now, the rascals say, 

I am a man of color ! 

Now, oh ye stars, look down in pity, 

Be melted by my mournful ditty ; 

Give me some business suited to my taste, 

Nor let me waste, 

Ye heavenly powers ! 
The flower of my age on fruitless flowers ! 



1843-49-1 L^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkms. 45 

These sacrifices on his part were most freely made, but at last 
it was decided that, in view of an improvement in the condition 
of his throat, he should make them no longer, and that he should 
be free to follow the native inclination of his soul, and complete 
the dedication of her son to God made by his mother in his 
childhood, and seek the ministry. Accordingly he entered the 
General Theological Seminary in 1847, when he was nearly 
twenty-seven. His age, his experience since leaving the Univer- 
sity, and his powers and goodness, made him quite the leading 
man in all the Seminary, of whatever class. 

It was a very different institution from what it is now. The 
buildings were shabby and mean, even at their best, and quite in- 
sufficient for the needs of the school. The library had very inad- 
equate quarters, and in consequence could not be arranged so 
that full use might be made of the collection of books, which was 
a very good one. The chapel was a wretched, mean room, and 
celebrations of the Eucharist were not held except once or twice 
a year ; such a place as the present dignified, beautiful chapel, 
with its altar of vari-colored marble, wdth statues of the saints in 
the niches of the rere-dos and of the Good Shepherd in the 
midst, with cross and candles, the pavement of lustrous stones 
increasing in beauty and costliness as they climb the steps within 
the sacrarium, the carved stalls of massy oak, the rainbow tints 
in the windows, filled with saints and angels of the heavenly 
hosts, the rushing melodies rising daily from the double ranks of 
the young Levites who fill the seats in the deep, deep choir. All 
these were never even dreamed of by those who sat on those mis- 
erable wooden benches fifty years ago ; yet many of them lived 
to see this new and better day. The Seminary was poor, and it 
was also an object of deep suspicion and distrust. There was no 
ritualism in those days, but there was the soul of it ; and some 
even of those who were enlisted on the Church side were quite 
ready to give up the Seminary. 

The Faculty was an able one, but the methods of instruction 
were not such as are approved in these later days, and so long as 
men recited their lessons, little more was asked from them. The 
lessons were no task to a practised student like young Hopkins, 
and he had a great deal of time at his disposal. He supported 
himself as before. It took but little to satisfy his needs. His 
life was an ascetic one, for various reasons. In the first place by 
living simply, he had more money to send home ; in the next 
place, he had more to give away in charity ; and lastly and above 



46 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

all, on account of his love of the Cross. He was an ascetic of 
the noblest type — loving, joyous, serene, and cheerful, not in the 
least sour or gloomy, or proud or cold. Therefore he had but 
one suit of clothes at a time ; and he lived thus all his life long. 
He slept on a plank with a single blanket to cover him, and lived 
on Graham crackers, an inch thick, unleavened, and much harder 
than pilot-bread, and cold water. 

While at the Seminary, he read everything he could. The ex- 
tent and variety, accuracy and fulness of his studies were amazing. 
The students used to call him, half in jest and yet in earnest, 
''Father Hopkins," and the gentleness, sweetness, and considera- 
tion with which he met all who came to him, made him loved by 
even those who most differed from him. So, too, though he had 
all the fresh hopefulness of youth, yet, his wisdom being beyond 
his years, he was a sort of spiritual director to a good many of his 
fellows. 

He was always ready for an argument, and although he was as 
keen as a brier and argued with a rush, and AAith the pertinacity 
of a bull-dog, yet it was alwa)'s ad rem and never in personam. 
No one was more ready to take sides in the wars of words that 
rage so fiercely in all places where students meet, but he was not 
pugnacious. If a head came in sight and seemed to challenge, 
nothing ever daunted him ; nevertheless he was not the cham- 
pion waiting with the chip on his shoulder for the enemy to 
knock it off. 

The only game which the boys and girls of Bishop Hopkins' 
schools were allowed to play was chess. It was the only game 
that the Bishop's son ever knew. He played it with his fellow- 
students at the Seminary in a way of his own, marked by com- 
pleteness of survey of the whole board, subtle and deliberate 
development of his attack, unswerving persistence in his plans, 
skilful handling of pieces, a strong game with his pawns, and a 
sudden unveiling of his aim, and overwhelming advance — very, 
very seldom was he beaten. He gave even strong players odds 
of mate by a marked pawn ; or mate on a particular square. 
One loved friend, to whom he sometimes gave such heavy odds, 
says that once, when he, receiving some odds (no matter what), 
played with great care he managed to beat Hopkins. When the 
mate Avas seen to be inevitable Hopkins was so disconcerted 
that his hand trembled with nervousness, and at last completely 
lost his \\-its, though he kept his temper. 

He had even then all his srreat schemes which later on he re- 



I843-49-] ^^f^ ^f Jolm Henry Hopkins. 47 

vealed in the Church Journal ; — small dioceses, provinces, the 
revival of the diaconate, free churches, beautiful worship ; and 
the whole cycle of Church doctrines and their consequences. 

He did not shave, and that marked him as one of the ' ' pe- 
culiars." We seldom realize that in our daily life we are doing 
many things that are not in the least natural, so accustomed are 
we to the conventions of society. Just so we do not realize the 
pressure of the atmosphere until a part of that pressure is taken 
off by artifice, as in a cupping-glass. We wear full beards, or 
none, or whiskers or mustaches as we please, and none venture 
to question the customs of others. Not so in 1847. ^i^ those 
days if a clergyman did not shave other people wrote to the 
newspapers about it. 

Here are two or three of Mr. Hopkins' epigrams on the sub- 
ject ''in answer to Katyn in the Express of February 24, 
1848," dated by him February 25, 1848 : 



I. 

A. "The goats have beards, my Friend, and so have you, 

Therefore you're one ! " 

B. *' The goats have beards, I grant ; 'tis also true, 

Puppies have none." 

n. 

If you can single the Puseyites out 

By the way they suffer their beards to sprout, 

As I believe you say, sir ; 
Then true-blue Protestants may be made 
By any black Jack in the barbers' trade 

With a little soap-suds and a razor. 



m. 



If the sage inference we must draw 

(On the logical plan 

Of the smooth-faced man) 
That Popery's proved by the style of the jaw ; 
John Calvin's creed must have had a flaw, 
For his beard was as long as the Moral Law : 

While the Pope, an idolatrous sinner, 
Who has no more beard than you have wit, 

(Being shaved as you know 

Both above and below), 



48 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

Might pass for a Protestant every whit, 
Be acknowledged for Puritan company fit 
And at the head of the table sit 
(Although with laughter his sides might split 
Every time he should happen to think of it) 
At the next New England dinner ! 

Mr. Hopkins used to wear in those days an extraordinary 
Byronic collar, which left his throat quite exposed to view ; in 
complete contrast with the high collars and swathing neck-cloths 
then in style. He did this, not to attract attention, but because 
he believed such a baring of his throat would strengthen it and 
give him back his voice. Very likely it did help him, and the de- 
crease, since those days, of " clergymen's sore-throat," is likely 
to have been brought about in part by the use of more sensible 
collars. Nothing shows more plainly how essentially provincial 
New York then was, though it had half a million inhabitants, 
than the story that John Henry Hopkins used to be followed in 
the streets by people on account of his outlandish collar. He 
might wear what he pleased now and no one would do more than 
turn his eyes toward him. There were a few such things which, 
on account of his opinions, his boldness and unconventionality 
in expressing them, and his strong, strange face, made him a 
noted figure in New York. He was inclined to argue that since 
his style of dress was his own he might do as he chose, because 
he did no more than vary from usual customs. But Bishop De 
Lancey once told him that a public man's exterior belongs not 
only to himself but to the public also, and that since customs 
were not wro?ig he would best serve his own interests and the 
Church's by conforming as closely to them as he could. 

When he came up for his final examinations he was especially 
complimented upon his beautiful reading of Hebrew, and he was 
considered the head of the school. His reading of Hebrew was 
beautiful always, as was his reading of all languages, exact artic- 
ulation, each consonant carefully uttered, but not vocahzed; the 
most delicate shading of related sounds of words, careful accentua- 
tion, not accenting each syllable as is done in the modern ridic- 
ulous New England fashion, and a quaint musical modulation 
made his reading unlike any other reading, and brought out the 
meaning of Scripture with a rare suggestiveness and devotion. 

The Church movement began to show visible effects while 
Hopkins was at the Seminary. Historically it is known as the 
Oxford movement, because the Tractarians were graduates of that 



1843-49] L^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 49 

University. But in England it began to show itself through the 
efforts of Cambridge men, although Cambridge never has had 
anything like so strong a Church tone as Oxford. A little coterie 
of lovers of Church architecture, J. M. Neale, Benjamin Webb 
(late Vicar of St. Andrew's, Wells Street), Edmund Venables, 
Precentor of Lincoln ; Harvey Goodwin, late Bishop of Carlisle, 
and a few others, formed a little society, one of whose rules was to 
visit some specified church within four miles of St. Mary's Church 
iveekly. This was finally merged into a larger society, which was 
instituted in May, 1839, and called the Cambridge Camden 
Society. Within four years there were among its members or 
patrons two archbishops and sixteen bishops. In 1846 the 
society became the '' Ecclesiological (late Cambridge Camden) 
Society." From first to last Neale and his friend Webb were 
the main elements in its success. 

These statistics are of interest because they mark almost exact- 
ly the beginning of what is called Ritualism. 

The New York Ecclesiological Society was founded early in 
the year 1848, and at the second quarterly meeting the name of 
John Henry Hopkins, Jr., was placed upon the roll of members. 

As in England, the first effort to change the face of the Church 
was made upon the fabric of churches. There was no scheming, 
no deep-laid plan to begin thus and go on toward Ritualism as 
we see it now ; it was but natural to begin there. The roman- 
tic movement had caused an interest in mediaeval architecture, 
which the sham classicism of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies had called Gothic, meaning barbaric, and all events united 
to bring men to the study of those picturesque monuments of the 
devotion of ages which men fancied as ages of romance and 
mystery. In America architects had reared extraordinary edifices 
on the mistaken principle that Greek buildings could be made to 
suit our purposes, and had fancied that they could successfully 
emulate the serene loveliness of Pentelic marble with pine-wood 
and white paint. On such or even lower standards American 
tastes in architecture were formed, and the true Goth was the pur- 
blind American. A soil more destitute of any genuine growth of 
Church art could not have existed in any other Christian land. 
There was nothing ready for the hands of those who knew what 
was good. Not only were the people to be taught, but they had 
to learn first of all that there was anything to be taught. An in- 
terest had to be created ; the most elementary principles of art had 
to be unfolded, enforced, and reiterated. 



50 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

Mr. Hopkins was a lover of the beautiful in all things from his 
natural tastes and training, but he had a personal and peculiar in- 
terest in the study of pointed architecture, for his father published 
the first book on the principles of Gothic architecture ever brought 
out in this country, and lithographed the plates that illustrated it 
with his own hand. 

The Ecclesiological Society did not live more than ten or twelve 
years, but it gave an impetus to the use of true Church ornamcnta 
that has never since died out ; and it is almost a pity that instead 
of the standard of such works, in architecture, the building and 
arrangement of chancels, altars, mural paintings, stained-glass, and 
sculpture being in the hands of a number of amateurs it is set 
for the most part by tradesmen, each with his little stock of patterns 
stereotyped and commonplace. A long story might easily be 
made of the part which Mr. Hopkins took in adorning the wor- 
ship of God, which he said was the best of all good works, and 
making it more worthy of its object. 

Here his remarkable versatility came into play, and the profu- 
sion of his art creations, their beauty and variety, and appropriate- 
ness and utility, are of themselves remarkable, for he excelled in 
such works. 

He came honestly by his talent. His father was no mean 
artist, his mother no trifler with art, and their son was full of 
their spirit, and from his earliest days was taught the craft of 
the artist. Art was no mere external accomplishment with him, 
but was one of the springs whence his life flowed ; beauty was a 
trace of the Heavenly Father's love in creation, a relic of the first 
loveliness and joyful charm of Eden, a smile from the face of 
God — " whose beauty wakes the world's great hymn." Some of 
his productions were genuine creations ; his imagination was so 
rich, so true the touch of the poet's hands, so unswerving the 
sweep of his glance that he dared many things that a man of lesser 
genius would have made ridiculous. But for that very reason 
some dull minds, better suited with the commonplaces of mere 
stock-in-trade, do not care for his works. He knew the rudiments 
of ecclesiastical art, and its whole grammar, and its higher litera- 
ture. Symbols, mere dry bones for antiquaries, as most men pre- 
tend to use them, were living things in his hands. Yet he never 
designed an article without providing for its use first of all, and 
for the symbolism afterward. He had studied architecture and 
knew it well, and was consulted by hundreds of clerg}anen and 
building committees. He designed some churches himself, but 



1843-49'] ^tf^ ^f Johf^ He7iry Hopkins. 51 

never if the parish were able to afford an architect by profession, 
and of these he always recommended the choice of the best, and 
that this architect's plans should not be altered. But he gave his 
advice as to arrangements of church and chancel at any time. 
Their use was to be first provided for. Seats were to be made 
comfortable, with broad seats to support the legs; heating ap- 
paratus to be placed where it would do the most good ; altars 
were to be placed on wide foot-paces, so that ' ' a long-legged priest 
should not hurt his shins ' ' in kneeling ; book-desks were to be at 
the best angle for easy reading ; altars were not to be perched on 
many steps in a shallow chancel, for that would diminish the 
breadth of each step, and reduce to the eye the depth of the chan- 
cel ; altars were to be higher than tables, for the book was to be 
read standing and the Blessed Sacrament consecrated standing ; 
and all things to be used were never to have their use taken from 
them on pretence of beauty. 

He designed a large number of stained-glass windows, and 
supervised the making of the glass. He was one of the first 
among us in America to see that a glass window, which is to give 
light, cannot be treated as if it were a wall or a piece of canvas. 
The very shadows in painted windows must be translucent. In 
churches, too, beauty ' ' for its own sake ' ' was not to be sought. 
It was to be appropriate, and to tell a story, or illustrate a truth, 
or set forth some manifestation of grace. 

Inside the church there was not to be a hap-hazard collection of 
beautiful things : in them there was to be harmony, and the unify- 
ing power streamed from the Altar, with its Sacrifice. So all were 
to tend toward the Altar, and be for it and the Divine Victim im- 
molated thereon. The chancel speaks of the separateness of God 
from His creation, the rood-screen marks its division from the 
nave. He erected a beautiful oaken screen bearing a great rood, 
in Christ Church, Williamsport, and it is one of the most strik- 
ing things in a very dignified church. 

He was one of the very first who here taught the art of needle- 
work for the adornment of the linen for the altar and for the 
vestments of the priest. His own surplices were always em- 
broidered in quaint and pretty patterns of leaves or flowers upon 
the yoke, and they were always the full, long, inedicBval surplice 
with ample sleeves, put on over the head, and taking a great 
quantity of linen. He never used the short, scanty, little cotta 
down to the hips, affected by most recent Ritualists, with no 
credit to their good taste. 



52 



A Champion of the Cross. 



[1843-49. 



He caused to be made the first alb, chasuble, and dalmatic ever 
made in the American Church. This was in 1850. He knew 
the time would come when such vestments could be worn for the 
offering of the Sacrifice of the Altar, and although even after he 
was ordained priest he did not often use them, it was because 
scores of priests then wore them regularly with none to hinder. 
He also made the first colored stole (of violet) ever used in the 
American Church. This stole had a companion. It was given 
by Hopkins to a priest who, becoming frightened at the ritual 
troubles, dyed his black. He made the first pastoral staff ever 
made in America, though not the first one ever used ; Bishop 

Doane, of New Jersey, having one 
sent him from England by Mr. Beres- 
ford-Hope, made of oak from St. 
Augustine's, Canterbury. 

He was the first in the United 
States to design altar plate of the 
best shapes. For the most elaborate 
of these he made full-sized colored 
drawings, and the chalices and pa- 
tens made for Trinity Chapel, New 
York, are good specimens of his skill. 
There is at Trinity Church, Prince- 
ton, N. J., an exceedingly rich jew- 
elled chalice made from his designs. 



All the jewels of a lady of great 
wealth were devoted to this purpose 
by her husband, and some hundreds 
of them are used in this set of altar 
plate. From first to last Dr. Hop- 
kins made designs for altar plate to 
the value of nearly half a million ! 

He made a large number of episcopal seals. In the narrow 
limits of the vesica piscis he moved with all the freedom and 
playful spirit of the old Gothic artists. Each design in its own 
meagre plot has its meaning and character, in a double sense. 
Most such designs are iterations and reiterations of mitres, 
crossed keys, and crosiers ; not so with his. No two are alike ; 
they tell a story, and the story is the right one for the place. He 
is not afraid to take secular objects inside his lines, if they are in 
the field where the work is to be done. In the seal of the diocese 
of Pittsburgh one sees the tall chimneys ! For Springfield, deeply 




Seal of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, desig^ned 
by John Henry Hopkins. 



1843-49- ] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 53 

engraven in the superb amethyst given its first Bishop from De- 
Koven, are the four streams from the one spring parted to water 
the field — the world — and bring forth the increase, and the 
motto '' Deus dat incrementum ! " 

For the first Missionary Bishop of Western Texas, the heroic 
Elliott, he made the lion, and the motto, " Vox clamantis in de- 
serto." For the first Missionary Bishop to Utah, the home of 
the Mormons, he made a seal, which shows the Holy Ghost, as 
a dove, descending upon a bee-hive, round which bees are fly- 
ing. When we recall the fact that the Mormons call their own 
region '^ Deseret, or the land of the honey-bee," the appropriate- 
ness of such a design for the seal of a Catholic Bishop is quite 
clear. On the coat-of-arms of the State of Maine is a lone star, 
with the motto "Dirigo." For Bishop Neely he designed a 
seal showing our Lord walking amid the seven golden candle- 
sticks of the Apocalyptic vision, with an angel holding up this 
single star of the state. Sometimes he would make a pun. For 
Bishop Starkey he made a key, with a sta7^ in the ring of the 
key, and around them the legend, '' Qui habet clavem David : 
»fi Stella splendens et matutina. ' ' 

Mr. Henry Wagner, son of ''Wagner, of Brighton," in build- 
ing and adorning a magnificent church at Brighton as a me- 
morial to his father, devised a pictorial representation of the 
way colonial, missionary, and American diocesan Churches had 
branched from the parent stem. In pursuing his object he asked 
from Dr. Hopkins the seals and arms of the American bishops. 
He expected that these would be poor in design, taste, and 
execution; but on receiving them he was "fearful that their 
great superiority would throw the others out of balance, by their 
beauty, and their dignity and character, in which most of all the 
others were sadly lacking. But, as the result showed, they gave 
to the whole a richness and picturesqueness which it had not 
possessed before." This was about 1882. 

Some of the most noteworthy work he ever did, besides the 
designing of so many episcopal seals, are the alms basin which 
was sent by the General Convention of 187 1 to the Church of 
England, as a memorial of the visit of the Bishop of Lichfield 
(George Augustus Selwyn) ; the monument to his father, erected 
at the Rock Point Cemetery in full view, on the one hand, of the 
house built by the Bishop and his sons in 1841, and on the other, 
of the Vermont Episcopal Institute ; and the pastoral staff pre- 
sented by the clergy of the diocese of Central Pennsylvania to 



54 A Champiofi of the Cross. [1843-49. 

Bishop Howe on the "Golden Jubilee" of his ordination, in 
1882. The alms basin is thus described : 

The design of the alnis basin is meant to be peculiarly appro- 
priate to the occasion. In the centre is the hemisphere, show- 
ing the Atlantic Ocean in the midst, with the Old World on the 
east of it and the New World on the west. The land is matted 
and slightly raised ; the mountains and rivers being clearly 
shown. The ocean is burnished, with bright wavy lines en- 
graved on it, indicating the motion of the water. A scroll on 
the ocean bears the inscription, which expresses the spirit of the 
gift : 1^ Orhis veteri noviis, Occideiis oricnti, Filia Matri *J« : 
'' The New World to the Old, the West to the East, the Daugh- 
ter to the Mother." At the South Pole is the date, 187 1, of 
the Bishop's visit. In the upper part of the hemisphere is a cir- 
cular chased medallion, which covers nearly the whole of Great 
Britain, and bears a quaint little ship. This is the ship of the 
Church, having the Cross at its prow, the monogram of the word 
Christ on its sail [the same monogram that was on the famous 
Labarum or war -standard of Constantine], the Pastoral staff of 
the Apostolic Episcopate as its mainmast, upheld by two ropes on 
either side for the other two orders of Priests and Deacons ; and 
" S. S." on the rudder, for the '' Sacred Scriptures." This ship 
is leaving England, and is headed toward the New W^orld, indi- 
cating that our Church received its existence from the Catholic 
Church through the Church of England. 

Outside of this hemisphere is a band about an inch wide, with 
six words chased in ancient uncial Greek capitals. These are the 
names of the six undisputed General Councils of the ancient 
Church, whose definitions of the Catholic Faith are accepted by 
every orthodox branch of the Apostolic Church throughout the 
world, and always have been. These six are separated from one 
another by six hemispheres of lapis lazuli, a foreign stone. Its 
blue tint may well represent the perpetuity of the Catholic faith ; 
and they are all exactly the same, for all those councils set forth 
one and the same doctrine, only defending it from different forms 
of error as they arose at different times. As the word " Catho- 
hc " signifies " all the world over," so this band runs all around 
the globe. 

From this band, on the outside, spring twelve oak-leaves, and 
between them are twelve twigs, each bearing three acorns with 
burnished kernels. This use of the English oak sets forth the 
English Church growing outward, and carrying her Catholicity 




Alms Bason sent by the American Church 

TO THE Church of England 

1871-72 

[Designed by Rev. J. H. Hopkins, S.T.D.] 



1 843-49- J ^i/^ ^f y^^^ Henry Hopkins. 55 

with her wherever she goes, in every direction. The twelve is 
the number of ApostoHc fulness and perfection, and the three is, 
of course, a reference to the doctrine of the Trinity, which is the 
bright and vital point of all Catholicity. 

All the parts that have thus far been mentioned are richly 
gilded, we cheerfully conceding the gold to the Old World, and 
content to represent ourselves, more modestly, in silver. From 
behind the oak - leaves and acorns, therefore, spring alternate 
maple-leaves and palmetto-leaves, the former symbolizing the 
North and the latter the South, and thus representing the histori- 
cal truth that both parts of our American Church are the out- 
growth of the Church of England. These leaves fill up the hol- 
low of the basin till they touch the rim. 

The rim is very broad and nearly flat. It bears the inscrip- 
tion, " It is more blessed to give than to receive." It begins 
and ends at a jeweled cross, composed of five amethysts, four 
topazes, eight pearls and eight small garnets, all clustered within 
a circle, the cross itself thus forming a crown of glory. The 
words are divided by large stones, more than an inch in diameter, 
and polished en cabuchon. As they refer not to the faith, but to 
gifts, which are of infinite variety, no two are alike. They are 
all (with one exception) American stones, agates, moss agates, 
and jaspers, from Lake Superior, Colorado, Texas, and a piece 
of gold-bearing quartz from California. The one exception is 
the first of them, after the word '^It," which is a species of 
prase from New Zealand. ■ It was found in a lapidary's shop in 
Philadelphia, where a large piece of it had been left by a private 
gentleman who himself brought it from New Zealand. As the 
Bishop of Lichfield was the world-renowned Selwyn, who, as 
Bishop of New Zealand, had spent twenty-five years there, doing 
more than any other one man to organize the synodical system of 
the Colonial Episcopate of the English Church, and afterward to 
organize in the same way the Colonial Provincial system, which 
makes those Colonial Churches as independent of the Mother 
Churches as our own, a piece of that New Zealand stone was se- 
cured at once, as the most appropriate to be placed yfrj-/ in the 
series. The letters are relieved by engraved diagonal lines, 
termed shading, but the lines are cut with a bright tool, so that 
in the right light they show brilliantly. They signify the shad- 
ows or trials of the Church, which, when viewed aright, are 
always seen to be her chief glories. 

Outside the inscription is a very bold cable moulding, the 



56 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

finish of which shows that it is ''a threefold cord, not easily 
broken." This means the three Orders of the Apostolic Minis- 
try ; one strand being burnished bright to represent the Episco- 
pate ; the next under it having twelve cross threads representing 
the Priesthood ; and the next below that having seven longitu- 
dinal threads, signifying the Diaconate, the original number of 
the deacons being seven. Outside this cable moulding, again, is 
a narrow margin of leaves all growing outward, showing the 
vigorous outward growth of the Church all the world over. 

On the under side of the rim is a plain Latin inscription, more 
specifically detailing the circumstances of the occasion which 
called forth this gift from the American to the English Church. 
It runs thus : " *J* Ecclesiae Anglicanae matri, per manus Apos- 
tolicas reverendissimi Georgii Augusti Selwyn, Dei gratia, Epis- 
copi Lichfieldiensis, pacis et benevolent! se internuncii, ejusdem- 
que auctoris, hoc pietatis testimonium filii Americani dederunt." 

This alms basin was solemnly presented in the course of the 
celebration of the Eucharist at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. 

In the following lines, from the pen of Bishop Wordsworth of 
Lincoln, the Church of England is supposed to return thanks for 
the late pious offering from the Daughter Church : 

Quod carse mittis, carissima Filia, Matri 

Accipimus sanctae pignus amicitise. 
Dat dextram veteri novus Orbis ; Nata Parenti ; 

Miscet et Occiduum Sol Oriente jubar, 
Pontus Atlantiaco quamvis interfluat Eestu, 

Littora velivolis consociantur aquis ; 
Ecce ! Ratis Christi medium translabitur sequor ; 

Alba ferunt Labarum carbasa ; prora Crucem. 
Funis Apostolico fultum gestamine malum 

Ordinibus binis junctus utrinque tenet ; 
Navem per scopulos Oracula Sancta gubernant ; 

Sic tutam sulcat per maris arva viam : 
Angliacos linquit portus ferturque Carina 

America placido suscipienda sinu. 
Aspice ! qua medium lands complectitur orbem 

Mystica ccelatis clara corona notis ! 
Nomina senarum Synodorum pristina cerno, 

Quae fixam placitis explicuere fidem. 
Germinat h?ec circum quercu diadema Britanna j 

Donaque fert Trino frons duodena Deo : 
Miilticolore nitent diversae lumine gemmae ; 

Undique sic radians lucet Amore Fides. 
Crux zonam gemmata aperitque et claudit ; Amoris 

Nam Crux principium est, Crux quoque finis erit, 
Fraternis veluti triplex amplexibus orbis, 

Cuncta INIinisterium cingit Apostolicum : 



1843-49-] ^^f^ ^f y^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 57 

Denique ut externo diffusae in margine frondes, 

Sic Christi Vitis tendit, in omne solem. 
Ergo Te Genitrix, caiissima Nata, salutat, 

Et pia de gralo pectoie vota refert ; 
Pacis in seterno constringat foedere corda 

Cordibus Angliacis Americana Deus ! 
Una Fides, unus Christus, nos Spiritus unus, 

Unus et Ipse Suo jungat amore Pater ! 
Sic, vibi transierint mortalia ssecula, Coeli 

Nos una accipiat non peritura Domus ! 

An autographic copy of these Hnes was sent by Bishop Words- 
worth to Dr. Hopkins — the acquaintance formed at the time of 
the meeting of the first Lambeth Conference (a few instances of 
which are mentioned in Dr. Hopkins' Journal) continued by 
correspondence as long as the Bishop lived. 

Rendered into English prose, the verses read : 

''We accept this token of sacred fellowship which you, most 
beloved Daughter, send to your beloved Mother. The New 
World gives this pledge of friendship to the Old — the Daughter 
to the Parent ; and the Western Sun mingles its splendors with 
the Eastern. Although the Atlantic rolls its tide between us, 
our shores are bound together by the sail-covered waters. And 
lo ! here I see pictured the Ship of Christ's Church gliding 
across the mid-ocean. Her snow-white sails bear the Monogram 
of the Redeemer and her prow His Cross. A cord uniting the 
two-fold Orders of the Ministry holds firmly on either side a 
Mast which bears aloft the token of Apostolic authority. The 
Sacred Scriptures, as the rudder, guide the ship among the rocks. 
Thus safely does the Ship plough her way through the furrows of 
the sea. The Bark seems just leaving the shores of England, 
soon to be moored in the tranquil harbor of America. 

'' But look further, where a mystic corona, bright with graven 
letters, encircles the central boss of the basin. I discover upon 
it the ancient names of the six General Councils which by their 
decrees have determined the everlasting Faith. And again from 
this springs forth a diadem of British oak, of which the twelve- 
fold leaves present their fruits to the triune God. Varied gems 
glow with many-colored rays, as Faith radiant with Charity 
sheds its light in every direction. A Cross of clustered gems 
fastens the girdle which bears the blessed legend of Charity, for 
the Cross is the beginning of Charity as well as its consumma- 
tion. A Cable with its triple braided strands, like the Apos- 



58 A Champion of the Cross, [1843-49. 

tolic Priesthood, encircles the whole design. Finally, as leaves 
are pushing forth from the very outer margin, so is the Vine of 
Christ still extending itself into every land. 

''Therefore, most beloved Daughter, the Mother sends back 
her greeting to you, and from her grateful heart utters devout 
prayers, that God may knit together American hearts with Eng- 
lish in an eternal covenant of Peace ! May the one Faith, the 
one Christ, the one Spirit, and the one Father Himself, unite 
us all with His own love ! So when earthly scenes shall have 
passed away, may the Home in Heaven, which shall never perish, 
receive us all together." 

The monument to Bishop Hopkins is a great Celtic cross, 
which, with its three steps, is fifteen feet high. It is in itself a 
compendium of personal and official history. One part of it is 
particularly interesting. In the arms of the cross are statuettes 
of the twelve Apostles, in groups of three, about a foot high. 
Each bears the emblem appropriated to him by the conventional 
rules of ecclesiastical art. No two in the same group look the 
same way, and no two figures in the whole number are alike. 
Thus they were designed by John Henry Hopkins. But the 
marble carver, with the cartoons before him, could not carry out 
the designs. Whereupon Hopkins took modelling clay, and, al- 
though he had never done such a thing before in his life, with 
his own hands made every one of the statuettes in clay, and from 
these models the carver executed the design ! The Bishop's 
Staff, given to the first Bishop of Central Pennsylvania in Janu- 
ary, 1882, is a typical example of Dr. Hopkins' rich fancy and 
of his characteristic style of teaching by means of symbols. 

The staff described by himself in presenting it to the Bishop — 
for he was spokesman for the clergy who gave it — though the 
description is condensed from the original, is here given. 

''The idea of the Pastoral Staff is taken from the shepherd's 
crook, because our Lord, who is ' the Good Shepherd,' calls His 
ministers to be shepherds. 

"It is so constructed as to carry its meaning in its form. As 
the highest function of a Bishop's office is to bring back the 
wanderers, so the crook of the staff, by which the shepherd caught 
and gently drew back the straying sheep, is the highest part of it. 
The greater portion of the staff is straight ; for the great bulk of 
the Bishop's time is devoted to ruling those who are willing 
and obedient. The lowest part is of baser metal than any of the 



1843-49-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins, 59 

rest, 2iVi&\?> pointed, signifying the coercive power of punishing 
those who are obstinately bad. In this particular staff the straight 
part is divided into three parts. The lowest of these is of ebony, 
signifying by its unbroken blackness our state by nature. The 
second is of ebony alternated w^th holly — this last being the 
whitest of our ornamental woods. This alternation signifies the 
conditions of the members of the Church here on earth, where the 
wicked are mingled with the good. The upper part, pointing to 
that future when there shall be ' neither spot nor wrinkle nor 
any such thing, ' is of pure and polished ivory ; and the staff is 
carried by being grasped by this part of it, for it is our duty to 
' lay hold on eternal life. ' But since the recovery of the lost is 
the chief glory of Christ's work, so the highest adornment of the 
staff is always expended upon the crook. Here it is of ebony in- 
crusted with jewels : of ebony to remind us of the fallen state 
from which we have been redeemed ; while the jewels refer to that 
future glory, when the foundation of the New Jerusalem shall be 
of precious stones, and God shall make up His jewels — those souls 
that have been cut and polished by earthly trials and tribulations, 
so that they may reflect more brilliantly the light of the Sun of 
Righteousness. 

'^ As the gift of Episcopal consecration is conveyed with the 
solemn words ' receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a 
Bishop in the Church of God,' so the number seven — the number 
of the gifts of the Holy Ghost — is seen everywhere. On the out- 
side of the edge of the crook are seven bold crockets, each being 
of a dark leaf enclosing a golden ball — the gold of the Gospel 
enclosed in human infirmity. On the same edge are seven stones 
of lapis lazuli, all of the same size, signifying with their deep blue 
tint the unchanging continuance of God's truth. On each side 
of the crook are seven jewels, all different, and of different sizes, 
growing smaller as they go further on. These signifying the 
varieties of personal character in God's saints, which are not done 
away in a future life, but are rather polished to a higher beauty. 
And the diminishing in size shows that the further progress w^e 
make in the spiritual life, the less we are disposed to make of our- 
selves. Besides these larger stones there are seven groups, each 
containing seven crystals, and one more is added, making the 
forty-nine up to fifty — the full Pentecostal number, the number of 
the outpouring of the Holy Ghost with power — ^-the number of the 
Jubilee. 

•' ' And there is the same number on the opposite side ; so that 



6o A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

both together they make up One hundred — the mystic number 
of the Flock of the Good Shepherd : ' What man of you having 
an hundred sheep,' is the sum total He gives us Himself. 

" The silver hoop which incloses the centre-piece of the crook 
gives the same number in another way — for there are fifty 
scallops cut on the rim of it on each side. 

' ' And what can be more appropriate than the figure of the 
Good Shepherd Himself standing in the midst of the crook, in 
the midst of His Flock? And the sheep that are with Him have 
their meaning also. The one which is standing, and looking up 
signifies Europe, which is the most thoroughly Christianized. 
On the other side, the one partly rising signifies Asia, where 
the work of evangelization is only partially done. The one ly- 
ing on the ground at His feet, the darkest of them, is Africa, 
where the work is hardly yet begun. The smallest and young- 
est is Amei'ica — and this is the lamb in His arms, the dearest 
place of all. Underneath, before and behind, are the loving 
commands ' ^ Feed My Lambs 1^,' ' i^ Feed My Sheep »J«.' 

''In a hollow of the ebony surrounding all this central group 
there runs in an unbroken circle the three-fold cord of the Apos- 
tolic Ministry — the visible evidence of the unity of that Church 
in which Christ is, and with v.hich He has promised to abide 
until the end of the world. 

*' Supporting the curve of the crook are two angels, one facing 
toward the Bishop who carries the pastoral staff, and the other 
on the opposite side. The one who faces the Bishop bears the 
Ci'oss, for that we all must bear on Earth; the one who bears 
the Ci'own is ' on the farther side. ' 

' ' All these figures of sheep and angels are of silver oxidized, 
for Churches have their precious metal dulled by the atmosphere 
of Earth, and He ' chargeth His angels with folly.' But the 
figure of the Good Shepherd Himself is gilded and burnished, as 
are also the Cross — which is sent by Him — and the crown, which 
will be given by Him; while the stars over the heads of the 
angels reflect his light, referring as they do to the stars which are 
the angels of the Churches. 

"The largest knop, with six compartments, just above the 
ivory shaft, is of oak, with reference to the oak of old England, 
our ecclesiastical Mother. Each compartment bears the name of 
one of the Bishops who have shepherded the flock in this part of 
Pennsylvania. First is the name of the venerable White, then 
in order, Onderdonk, Potter, Bowman, Stevens, and Hoiue. 



1843-49-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 61 

All these names are cut in strips of sandalwood inlaid in the oak. 
The sandalwood is one of the most fragrant woods in the world ; 
and we would thus show that 

" The sweet remembrance of the just 
Shall flourish when he sleeps in dust." 

'' The entire number of jewels used is one hundred and 
twenty-seven ; the one hundred of the Flock of God, and twenty- 
seven — being three times three times three — the threefold num- 
ber of the Ever-Blessed Trinity." 

The staff is in two parts, the junction being between the 
ivory and the mingled ebony and holly portions of the straight 
part. When thus separated the two pieces lit into places in a 
case, for convenience of carrying. 

Mr. Hopkins was always ready to do such work for any church 
that asked for his help. He would take long journeys at his own 
expense in order to make designs suitable to the place. What- 
ever was done for the Church by anyone he enthusiastically de- 
lighted in, and felt personally interested in. He built some 
lovely little churches of stones gathered on the spot, and when 
they were finished he went even as far as from New York to 
Wisconsin or Minnesota to be present at the consecration, and 
to tell in his own inimitable way the meaning of the whole ,vork, 
and to fasten the lesson in memory and heart and conscience by 
a few sentences. He had two or three exquisite sermons on the 
tabernacle and the temple and the Church which were like liv- 
ing pictures, but these he never wrote out, and only memories 
remain of his words. 

The New York Ecclesiological Society had to make its own 
footing good in a strong tide of ignorant prejudice, and there- 
fore interested its members in all subjects relating to the worship 
of the Church. 

Consequently the members (among whom were Reverend 
Doctors Haight, Creighton, John McVickar, Muhlenberg, Fran- 
cis Vinton, Morgan Dix, Mahan, G. H. Houghton, S. R. 
Johnson, Forbes, and some bishops as ''Patrons") published 
frequent papers on Church music. Here, too, John Henry Hop- 
kins was facile princeps. 

His father, as has been noted, had great skill and good taste, 
and his mother being likewise a skilful performer, and with his 
Irish and French and German blood and his education from 
early childhood, he was full of the spirit of melody. The whole 



62 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

Hopkins family were musicians, and of them Henry was the cen- 
tre. Church music, bad enough now, and misunderstood, was 
infinitely worse forty or fifty years ago. There was no knowl- 
edge whatever of the true Church style, and the best things were 
but the debased imitations of an untaught secular taste. The 
English cathedral services were tainted with the same infection. 
Fioriture and shakes and trills and roulades were looked upon as 
the climax of operatic singing, and since opera in the florid Ital- 
ian style was the "■ best " thing known it was imitated in church. 
Ordinary hymn tunes were dismal imitations of Protestant-meet- 
ing-house tunes, and were as dull as ditch-water. Even they 
were used but once in the whole service. Good, hearty, congre- 
gational singing was not expected, and if lay people tried to sing 
in church they were looked upon as " queer," or, it may be, as 
Methodists away from home. 

Thus the "solemn order of the service," to use the cant ex- 
pression of the times, was carried out. Evangelical Churchmen 
did use hymns, but their heartiness and fervor discredited their 
use in the true-blue Church parishes, where a freezing, stupid mo- 
notony was looked upon as the very climax of orthodox Church- 
manship. 

The renewed life of the Church breathing from Oxford made 
all lovely things appear, and the singing birds came, too, in the 
new spring. 

John Henry Hopkins could not but sing. Long before he was 
in the Seminary he had wTitten hpnns and songs. His father 
had not been trained in the technical part of musical composi- 
tion, but his son, with a richer and a truer feeling, as was fitting 
in a later generation, had carefully studied harmony under com- 
petent teachers, and had continued his studies. He soon saw 
that to try to transpose the '' devil's songs," or to wTite words of 
hymns beneath their notes, was not to improve Church music, 
but rather to debase it. There are some styles and some 
themes which are essentially secular, and even profane, and 
others from association are unworthy of use in the sanctuary. It 
is not so hard to profane sacred music. One of the most subtle 
methods of making sacred things ridiculous, and of turning them 
from their proper use was concocted by John Knox and the 
other Scottish "Reformers." They heard the melodies of se- 
quences and hymns of the true Church on all sides, and on all 
sides loved. Accordingly they wrote above the notes other 
words, sometimes light and trifling and indecorous, and some- 



1843-49-1 ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 63 

times of the most obscene character, in order to render the music 
of the Church contemptible. Some of those melodies are living 
still, and few or none when they hear " Cauld Kail in Aberdeen," 
''Comin thro' the rye," or ''John Anderson my jo, John," 
have any idea that those tunes have sunk from the service of the 
sanctuary into the idle songs of carousers in a tavern. 

Following the traces of the best English writers of ecclesiastical 
music he learned the value and beauty of two great schools of 
Church music all but unknown, except to students of the curious, 
and entirely unappreciated. These were the ancient Church 
modes, and the German chorales, and their kindred, the psalm 
tunes written by Clement Marot and others for the Huguenot 
services early in the sixteenth century. The chorales and French 
psalm music had more of the Church spirit than contemporary 
Church music written in Church style. These last had lost their 
early simplicity and pure melody. Their severe outlines were 
overlaid with all sorts of false ornament, and they were anything 
but plain song. The reform effected by Palestrina had not yet 
been called for. Mr. Hopkins worked these rich veins with 
great vigor and devotion. He mastered the ancient ''modes," 
and was able to use them, not as mere archaisms, but as living 
things. Of him W. H. Walter, Mus. Doc, and the organist who 
probably has done more to form a correct and living Church 
style here than any other, says that he ' ' always regarded him as 
a reliable authority in Gregorian music and the ancient tones. 
He made those a special study." 

An incident is related of him, in this connection, which 
brings out more than one point of his character. 

The students of the General Seminary were divided into two 
antagonistic camps on the subject of Church music. The forces 
were marshalled as Gregorians and Anglicans. Hopkins, at 
this time not a student, but in Holy Orders, threw himself en- 
thusiastically on the side of Gregorian music, and so excited the 
wrath of the Anglicanists. The difference in taste reached the 
professors, and Dr. Turner, who was passionately fond of music, 
was an Anglican, while Dr. Mahan was a Gregorian. In those 
days the Deanery passed from professor to professor year by 
year. This gave each faction one year of triumph, as the respec- 
tive champions in turn became Dean. 

Rev. Mr. Hopkins was the frequent guest of Dr. Mahan, and, 
more than once filled the place in the chapel of the absent 
organist during the supremacy of Anglican music. He could 



64 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

easily have driven his opponents frantic with rage by taking ad- 
vantage of the situation and playing plain -song for the chants ; 
but no, he overwhelmed them with his generosity by playing 
Anglican music in the best style, and in a manner far superior 
to their own organist. 

This incident, trifling in itself, shows the nobility of Hopkins' 
soul, his superiority to petty hates, and his magnanimity. As he 
was then he ever was, and he showed this greatness of soul in 
more weighty causes. Few men who themselves dealt heavy 
blows received heavier return than he did from his enemies. 
Many cherished their hostility to the end. He never did any- 
thing of the kind ; but dropped all settled matters, and forgot 
all said or done to his disadvantage. 

He published a great many things in the course of years, and 
many of them are used in the services of the Church. He gen- 
erally had some such composition lying on his desk at which he 
worked as he could find the opportunity, working it over and 
over, and polishing and retouching until it was as good as he 
could make it, before allowing it to be published. He wrote a 
setting for Veni Creator which is in most hymnals, and in 
ancient form. It is not so fine as the lovely plain-song melody 
which belongs to the hymn, but it is easily taken up by a congre- 
gation, and that is more than can be said for the real tune. His 
tune Vexilla Regis for the hymn ' ' The Royal Banners forward 
go," and published in one musical edition of the old hymnal is 
much better suited to the words than the tune by Lowell Mason 
sometimes used for that hymn. He wrote a considerable num- 
ber of anthems, and settings for the Kyrie Eleison, and all the 
parts of a Mass. He published a number of the noblest of the 
German choj'ales ; but all these works, owing to the fact that 
the one authorized hymnal is used in almost every one of the 
Church parishes in the country, are hardly known at all outside 
the circle of those personally interested in him, and to a few 
musicians. 

He wTote some hymns, both words and music, and a few of 
them are set down here, although they are all included in the 
last edition of his ''Carols, Hymns, and Songs," published in 
1883. 

Of two of these Dr. Muhlenberg said that they were the very 
noblest hymns in the English language on their themes ; but they 
should be heard sung to their o^^ti music to be appreciated. 

One of them is for Whitsunday : 



1843-49-] ^^y^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 



65 



TBloto on, tf)OU migfttg OlmD* 

FOR WHITSUN DAY. 




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66 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

2. Blow on, Thou mighty Wind, i 

And waft to reahns unbounded ' 

The notes of Faith and Hope and tender Love '\ 

The Gospel trump hath sounded. - 

Those sweetly piercing tones, 
That charm all wars and tears and groans, 

Through earth and sea and sky J 

Upon thy rushing wings shall fly : \ 

Therefore, Thou mighty Wind, blow on. , 

3. Blow on, Thou mighty Wind ; 

For, tempest-toss'd and lonely, ; 
The Church upon the rolling billows rides, 

And trusts in Thy Breath only. 

She spreads her swelling sails 

For Thee to fill with favoring gales, ; 

Till, through the stormy sea, ' 

Thou brmg her home where she would be : \ 

Therefore, Thou mighty Wind, blow on, \ 

\ 

4. Blow on, Thou mighty Wind, 

On hearts contrite and broken, 

And bring in quickening power the gracious words i 

That Jesu's lips have spoken. | 

Lo ! then, from death and sleep, 
The listening souls to life shall leap ; 

Then Love shall reign below. 

And Joy the whole wide world o'erflow : < 

Therefore, Thou mighty Wind, blow on. ; 

5. To God the Father, Son, 

By all in earth and heaven, ' 

And to the Holy Spirit, Three in One, \ 

Eternal praise be given, i 

As once triumphant rang ■ 

When morning stars together sang ; : 

Is now, as aye before ; ' 

And shall be so for evermore, j 

World without end/ Amen. Amen. \ 

-1858. i 



SONGS OF THE HEART. 

[Hexameter and Pentameter.] 

Drowned in the thundering roll of the organ's deep diapason, 

All unheard are the songs sung by the lowly of heart. 
Soon are the loud tones mute, all dying away in the distance j 
While those songs of the heart open the portal of Heaven. 

—1849. 



1843-49-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 6y 

The other, ''Jerusalem, My Home," is here given, without 
the music, which, with its plaintive and entreating open phrase, 
ending in a third, and its modulations into the minor key, well 
expresses the idea of the hymn — the meditation of the pilgrim 
on his distant home — and the change of the ending of the last 
line (the key is C) from E to A, giving the tone of assured pos- 
session to the very words of the beginning : 



Jerusalem, my Home, 

I see thy walls arise ; 

Their jasper clear and sardine stone 

Flash radiance through the skies. 

In clouds of heav'n descending, 

With angel train attending 

Thy gates of glistering pearl unfold 

On streets of glassy gold. 

No sun is there, no day or night ; 

But, built of sevenfold splendors bright, 

Thy Temple is the Light of Light, 

Jerusalem, my Home. 



Jerusalem, my Home, 

Where shines the royal throne, 

Each king casts down his golden ci"Own 

Before the Lamb thereon. 

Thence flows the crystal River, 

And, flowing on forever, 

With leaves and fruits, on either hand, 

The Tree of Life shall stand. 

In blood-washed robes, all white and fair, 

The Lamb shall lead His chosen there. 

While clouds of incense fill thy air, 

Jerusalem, my Home. 



Jerusalem, my Home, 

Where saints in triumph sing. 

While tuned in tones of golden harps 

Heaven's boundless arches ring. 

No more in tears and sighing 

Our weak hosannas dying. 

But alleluias loud and high 

Roll thundering through the sky. 

One chorus thrills their countless throngs ; 

Ten thousand times ten thousand tongues 

Fill thee with overwhelming songs, 

Jerusalem, my Home ! 



68 A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

Jerusalem, my Home, 

Thou sole, all-glorious Bride, 

Creation shouts with joy to see 

Thy Bridegroom at thy side ; 

The Man yet interceding, 

His Hands and Feet yet bleeding, 

And Him the billowy hosts adore 

Lord God for evermore, 

And " Holy, Holy, Holy," cry 

The choirs that crowd thy courts on high, 

Resounding everlastingly, 

Jerusalem, my Home ! 

Jerusalem, my Home, 

Where saints in glory reign. 

Thy haven safe O when shall I, 

Poor storm-tossed pilgrim, gain ? 

At distance dark and dreary, 

With sin and sorrow weary. 

For thee I toil, for thee I pray 

For thee I long alway. 

And lo ! mine eyes shall see thee, too : 

O rend in twain, thou veil of blue, 

And let the Golden City through — 

Jerusalem, my Home ! 

-1856. 

There are plenty of others worth quoting entire, with their 
music, but his own book contains them all. 

He wrote several carols also, some of which have the genuine 
ring of the true religious folk-song. One of them, " We three 
Kings of Orient are," is known everywhere in this country, and 
in England, too. He wrote its tune also, which has so strong a 
flavor of the antique that not only in England, where the writer 
was not known, but in the United States, and in Church publica- 
tions, it has been cited as an ''ancient carol." Some others, as 
the ''Roman Soldier," an Easter carol, and "Gather around 
the Christmas Tree," are frequently sung. Others des'erve to 
be. 

Dr. Hopkins was one of the most accomplished hymnologists 
in the United States, and he was in this, as in all other things, 
an advocate of liberty. No one ever contended more strongly 
for the freedom of all parish churches as to the choice of hymns, 
and here are some ideas from his book of " Carols, Hymns, and 
Songs. ' ' 

"The only way to test a hymn is, not merely to read it si- 
lently, or even aloud, but to sing it, over and over again, to its 



1 843-49-] ^^f^ of John Henry Hopkins. 69 

own tune. . . . The reason why we have so much unsatis- 
factory material thrust upon the Church, is that, for the most 
part, the writers of the words have known Httle about music, and 
the writers of music have had little taste or power in the poetic 
field, and therefore there was no felt organic connection betwixt 
the two. 

''It may be asked, 'Why publish any hymns, the words of 
which are not in the Hymnal ? ' This question assumes that the 
Church has prohibited the singing of any other hymns besides 
those in the Hymnal. This is altogether incorrect. 

" The Church has set forth a Hymnal, w^hich is ' allowed to be 
sung,' but there are no words prohibiting the singing of any 
others. When the present Hymnal (superseded in 1892) was 
first set forth, it was by 'joint resolution of the two Houses in 
General Convention,' and that resolution contained a distinct 
prohibition of all hymns except those in the old collection, and 
in the new Hymnal. But, being only a ' joint resolution ' and 
not a canon, it was not law, and was not binding on anybody. 
Since that time, the law of the Church has been put into canon- 
ical form — ' Canon 23 of Title I. of the Digest.' And in thus 
giving it the form of law the prohibition was deliberately and 
totally omitted. Nothing, therefore, can be clearer than that 
the singing of other hymns is not a canonical offence ; though 
no such hymns can claim the same authority as the Hymnal, or 
are likely to come into such general use. 

"But, if Church hymnody is to grow and improve, this door, 
small as it is, nmst be left open. The singing unto the Lord ' a 
new song ' is a loving duty of perpetual obligation. Every gen- 
eration of Christians feels the impulse, and ought, in some meas- 
ure, to obey it. Of the Latin hymns used in mediaeval times, 
90,000 have already been printed, and innumerable others still 
remain in manuscript. How many of these were ever canvassed 
by a committee, or voted upon by a Church council? A Ger- 
man hymn-book, now at my elbow, contains 3,067 hymns, all 
equally innocent of conciliar authority. The writing of hymns, 
and the power of composing suitable music to them, 21^ personal 
gifts, and do not belong to Church councils in any sense. I 
should like to see the General Convention go to work to compose 
a hymn, or watch one of its committees trying to produce a suit- 
able tune to a hymn ! No ; as these are individual gifts, so they 
appeal, not to Church councils, which are meant for very differ- 
ent business, but to the individual consciousness of other Church 



'JO A Champion of the Cross. [1843-49. 

people who share in the same gifts. As spiritual things are spir- 
itually discerned, so the things of poetry are poetically discerned, 
and musical things are musically discerned. The gifts of God in 
these departments do not need to be tied up by committees and 
canons. At present they are free. They are likely to remain 
so. I have conscientiously done my best. Instead of writing 
down to the present general taste in regard to sacred music, the 
attempt has been made to infuse a little of the older and better 
and more distinctly religious style of earlier times. He who fur- 
nishes one good hymn as a permanent part of the devotions of 
the Church, has done more than he who publishes several vol- 
umes of sermons. And if, notwithstanding my best exertions, 
nothing in this book shall be found worthy to live, no one who 
believes in the survival of the fittest can witness the result, and 
see the volume die, more contentedly than ' The Author. ' " 

The last sentence expresses Dr. Hopkins' mind upon every- 
thing that he did. No sincerer words were ever uttered by him 
than these ; when he had done his best he left the future en- 
tirely with God. 

In his dealings with music and musicians as a parish clergy- 
man it might be thought that his great knowledge of the subject 
and his own skill as a performer would make him ''hard to get 
along with," or that he would be '' cranky " and fussy. Noth- 
ing could be further from the fact. He used to say that he 
knew too much about music to interfere with choir and organist. 
Furthermore, organist and choir all knew that he had and would 
express genuine thankfulness and appreciation for their honest 
efforts, and his presence was a stimulus to hearty endeavor. 
And where tastes differed, as well they might, he never made 
his personal taste the law, but entered into the feelings of others 
so warmly that they usually offered him all he asked for. 

Thus far, for his connection with the Ecclesiological Society, 
but his ecclesiological work, as has been shown, continued his 
whole life. 



I843-49-] 



Life of John Henry Hopkins. 



71 



Cfitee IKings of ©tient 



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1. We Three Kings of - ri - ent are, Bearing gifts we traverse a ■ 
5. Glorious no-w be-hold Him a -rise, King, and God, and Sa - cri 



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1. We Three Kings of O - ri - ent are, Bearing gifts we traverse a • 
5. Glorious now be-hold Him a - rise, King, and God, and Sa - ori 



BALTHAZAR. 



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far. Field and fountain, Moor and mountain, Following yon-der Star. 
FicE ; Heav'u sings Al-le - lu - ia : Al - le - lu - ia the earth replies. 



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far, Field and fountain, Moor and mountain, Following yon-der Star, 
- FICE ; Heav'n siags Al-le - lu - ia : Al - le - lu - ia the earth replies. 




N. B.— Each of verses 2, 8, and 4, is sung as a solo, to the music of Gaspard's part 
In the 1st and 5th verses, the accompaniment and chorus being the same throughout 
Only verses 1 and 5 are sung as a trio. Men's voices are best for the parts of the "Three 
Kings, but the music is set in the G clef for the accommodation of children. 



72 



A CJiampion of the Cross. 



1843-49. 



CHORUS. 



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star of Wonder, Star of Xight, Star with roy-al beau-ty 



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briglit,'Westward leading, Still proceeding, Guide us to Thy per 



feet 




Gaspakd. 

2. Born a King on Bethlehem plain. 
Gold I bring to crown Him again, 

King for ever. 
Ceasing never 
Over us all to reign. 

Chorus. — O Star, <fec. 

Melchioe. 

3. Frankincekse to offer have I, 
Incense owns a Deity nigh: 

Prayer and praising 
All men raising, 
Worship Him God on High. 
Chorus. — O Star, &c. 



Balthazar. 

4. Mterh is mine ; its bitter perfume 
Breathes a life of gathermg gloom j 
Sorrowing, sighing, 
Bleeding, dying, 
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb. 
Chorus. — O Star, &c. 



1857. 



CHAPTER V. 

1850-1867. 

He graduated from the General Seminary in 1850, and was 
ordained Deacon by Bishop Whittingham, in Trinity Church, 
June 30th. 

The whole of the night before his ordination he passed, 
alone, in Trinity Church, locked in, and with but one candle 
to light up the great spaces of the choir and nave. No idle, 
romantic fancy this, devised by a brain spinning frail and glist- 
ening cobwebs, but a long night of prayer, self-examination, 
meditation, and deep consecration and spiritual communion. 
Dedicated from his birth, fitted by nature, with his loving heart, 
his active mind, his zeal and ardor leading to real sacrifice, 
taught in all ways, and never swerving, except once in early 
youth, and that deviation from morality long and sincerely re- 
pented of, and satisfaction made, now at the age of thirty he 
gave himself anew, by a complete dedication of all his powers to 
the service of God in the sacred ministry, and knowing no 
higher call than that which thus knit his heart to God he entered 
upon his ministry of loving service, constant loyalty, and cour- 
age and fidelity. 

All his plans were settled. He w^as to be a Church journalist. 
He was to be in Deacon's Orders for life, and thus be subject to 
his Bishop in all canonical obligations, and also, to illustrate 
the reality of the Order of Deacons. 

For nearly three years he made his preparations and arranged 
for the work of his journal. Once he became discouraged, and 
went to the house of Bishop Wainwright, intending to ask for 
Priest's Orders, and to go out to California as a missionary to 
the Indians ; but on the very steps of the Bishop's residence he 
made up his mind to try a little longer, and at last he secured 
the promises of support he needed and the Church Journal ap- 
peared first of all in February, 1853. During this time he 
preached in various places ; among others for six months in the 



74 ^ Champion of the Cross. [1850-67. 

Church of the Epiphany, Washington, where he was in charge 
while Dr. French, the Rector, was in Europe. Those sermons 
were first-rate discourses, and bear all the marks which point to 
brilliant success as a preacher. They are clear, direct, in charm- 
ing style, and forcible in effect. But he soon gave up the habit 
of writing sermons, and his whole stock of written sermons num- 
bered less than forty. One series on the parable of the sower has 
been kept, and one of them is herein given in another place. 

So pleased were the Washington people that they gave him a 
handsome sum of money over and above what had been promised 
to him. But all this he quietly gave away. He never dreamed 
of saving anything. God had promised him enough to clothe 
and feed him — little enough it took to do that — and that was all 
he asked or would have. He gave away much the greater part of 
his income in various ways all his life long. Yet he was not a 
spendthrift, or careless in money matters. He was an exact and 
careful man of business, and kept all his accounts in the most 
methodical way. 

And now begins the story of his public life. Henceforth he 
was one of the strong forces felt in the Church. A glance at 
some points in the Church may aid the student toward under- 
standing the situation. 

In considering the contributions of John Henry Hopkins to 
the development of the Church, the past as he saw it, and his own 
theories as to its needs, must be kept in mind. The time had 
come, and he saw it, when the issue between the true principles 
of the Church and those of the Puritans within it was to be de- 
termined. Such men, non-conformists in spirit and temper, had 
been included in the Church of England for centuries on account 
of the needs of the English nation. The result of their presence, 
and of the state alliance, had been a well-nigh stifling of the true 
life of the Church. The highest, truest instinct of the Catholic 
Church is directly opposed to the development of national 
churches. The whole world is a sea into which her net is let 
down to gather from all sides, of every kind. And yet there is 
a national coloring of the Church in certain regions which makes 
her outward appearance and her manner of doing the same things 
vary with time and country. To preserve her union with the 
whole Church a national Church must keep unbroken the cord of 
government, teaching, and grace; it is no solution of this union 
that the national Church shall choose her own pastors in whatever 
ways best suit national needs and as she herself may determine ; 



1850-67.] ^^/^ <^/ John Henry Hopkins. 75 

hold her own local synods or councils, and administer discipline. 
The English Church in seeking these rights had gone to the very 
verge of conceding those very rights of freedom. 

The tyranny of the state had, and has still, robbed her of all 
but a formal right of electing her bishops ; it had forbidden the 
transaction of business in the ancient legislatures of the Church, 
the two convocations of Canterbury and York, and had prevented 
the bishops from exercising their canonical rights of discipline. 
Along with these wrongs had gone a decay of doctrine. At the 
same time the customs formed in evil times had stiffened into a 
rigid canon which had been made over into second nature, so 
that all the unlovely ways of a prosaic and deadly indifferent cen- 
tury had been shaped into the very figure of the Church. The 
device of nationalizing the Church had almost cut it off from the 
great body of the Catholic Church, and, instead of the Church of 
England being looked upon (as she is if she is anything) as the 
Catholic Church governing herself in England (ignored though 
she be by her elder sister) she was to all intents and purposes the 
bond-slave of the state, and her freedom from the rule of the 
Roman See had brought a worse evil in causing her to be the 
subject of an authority, supreme indeed in its own sphere, over 
\h.& persons of her members, but which had no right, by divine 
delegation, to rule in spirituals. He is but a careless observer 
who thinks that such an evil state of things implies a severance 
from interior Catholic unity. The evil things brought to light 
in the long course of the English Reformation have not here 
been even summarized, but far more abject bondage to the state 
than now exists in England had been known there before the 
Reformation. The long residence of the Popes at Avignon did 
but enslave that very Pontiff whose thunders have ever and anon 
resounded through the Christian world as if he were the one man 
free to use the words of God, and it is known as the Babylonish 
captivity of the Church. 

The Gallican Church in the time of Louis XIV. was reduced, 
under the specious plea of claiming her primitive liberties, to a 
state of bondage to the crown. 

These, and too many others, are examples of royal supremacy 
in its own sphere encroaching upon the spiritual domain of the 
Church ; and yet in no cases except of the modern English 
Church is it asserted that more than the outward bonds of union 
were severed . 

The American Church when she received the Episcopate re- 



'jS A Champion of the Cross. [1850-67. 

ceived little more than the seeds of Hfe. Her children had been 
denied their birthright as the heirs of the kingdom of God, and 
were mere pensioners in halls where they had the rights of 
children. 

She had received all the dulness, and deadness, and stiffness 
of an age which glorified correctness of manner in doing what 
was not worth doing at all, as if it were the one thing to be looked 
for. But she had the right to freedom, and she was, in theory, 
able to assert it. Yet timidity, false humility, mistaken prudence, 
dread of precision and of fulness in teaching, over-caution in the 
statement of even what was set forth (which last inevitably had 
the effect of making people believe that Church doctrine was 
dangerous if it needed so much guarding) to be believed, all, and 
more were blocks along the road to progress. 

The Calvinistic evangelicals did indeed warm up the Church 
somewhat, but the intuitive perception of the falseness of their 
principles only settled the real churchmen back more iirmly than 
ever upon their assumed manner of rigid coldness. 

It is not necessary to suppose that the Oxford Tracts gave the 
first impulse here in America toward true Church doctrine. The 
leaders of the Church, and even the cautious and gentle White, 
had been driven by the needs of their position to lay down 
Church principles to justify the existence of the Church here. 
Nothing else could justify the continuance of the English Church 
here. The state connection had been one of the very things 
which made bishops dreaded, and the first American bishops 
therefore had to disclaim strenuously every intention on their 
part to set up such a Church. If the wish of those prelates had 
been to set up a more dignified and stately Protestant Church 
here they could not have justified themselves for having sought 
episcopal consecration with such earnestness; and sooner or later 
the question would have been asked, as it has since been asked in 
one form or another, if bishops are no m.ore than protestant minis- 
ters in lawn and black satin, what earthly use are they? 

There was no way possible except to plant the germ, at the very 
least, of Church, that is Catholic, principles. 

They did so. And all those principles can be justified in their 
very highest form, and in their most varied development, which 
do not, on Catholic grounds, include Ultramontane innovations. 
They cannot be justified on any narrower basis. On what are 
called Low Church principles, the doctrines and discipline of the 
svstem of the Praver-book are most uncharitable. If there were 



1850-67.] Life of JoJin Henry Hopkins. yj 

no higher ground to take every bitter and every strong phrase 
used by controversiahst, either protestant within, or protestant 
without, would be fully warranted, and the Church would be the 
object of their just contempt. 

But for a long time there was little show of budding life. The 
tree seemed to stand in a long winter sleep. Curious are the 
books which hold the history of those controversies that shrieked 
and wailed like wintry gales, a century ago, around the question of 
the lawfulness of the existence of bishops. But, after a while men 
began to see that a bishop in his essence was no less than a Father 
in God, and the Church began to grow and show her real life. 
There was a new thing under the sun. A Catholic Church in 
the West free, electing its bishops with the concurrent voice of 
the laity, holding its own councils, ministering the teachings of 
Christ in the ancient way, and speaking her own tongue. One 
by one old ways improved, and ways older still were found to be 
better. Not without question, however : there was as wild a cry 
of Popery over the very least sign of the new life as has ever set 
one's teeth on edge in these later days, and it was as futile. 

So the frost-bitten limb when the life-blood begins to flow 
more freely tingles with the torture. 

The introduction, for instance, of the custom of chanting the 
canticles at Morning and Evening Prayer, was hailed as a shame- 
less exhibition of Popery. Seventeen different reasons were set 
forth for not allowing the chanting of the Psalms. 

For a long time the two currents of Calvinism and Catholicity 
ran in the same channel. The Church slowly broadened and 
deepened as it went on, and it received accessions from many 
sides, and exerted an influence far beyond what might have been 
expected from its members. Here was one source of strength 
to the Church side that the evangelicals, in their party warfare, 
did not reckon upon as being against them. When men came 
into the Church from sectarianism it was because they sought 
something not to be found whence they came. But the mani- 
festations of the evangelicals were one and all of institutions and 
methods quite natural to those very sects. Men do not leave one 
series of institutions for another with a far diff'erent ethos, and 
then care to see the very customs once discarded on conviction 
imitated. Coming into the Church they wanted churchman- 
ship, and they did not care for mere imitations of prayer-meet- 
ings, and such like. The laity have ever been the great stay of 
the true sons of the Church. They have reflected the teaching 



78 A Champion of the Cross. [1850-67. 

of the clergy with absolute fidelity, and have borne with a large- 
heartedness that should confound the timid counsels of those who 
fear where no fear is, a great increase in the variety and richness 
of true Church life, and have submitted to what is really a con- 
siderable tightening of discipline not only with content, but 
with earnest desire that it should be so. They have learned a 
thousand things about their true place in Church, and their true 
rights which, if the "prudent" advice of the men of a few 
years ago had been heard, they would never have learned, and 
they have been asked to do, and do with cheerful alacrity, things 
that, to have suggested half a century ago, would have been con- 
sidered as madness. 

The " Tracts for the Times " were welcomed here, and caused 
nothing hke the alarm they did in England in their later num- 
bers. Some, and it is believed the essential, reasons for this 
have just been given. Moreover, many who were here ranked 
as evangelicals in reality were acting from the right point. They 
were "evangelicals" rather because they were filled with a 
warm generous love for God and for His glory, and they were re- 
pelled from High Churchmen because they could not believe 
that a barely resuscitated corpse, as yet bound round with swath- 
ing bands, was the living, breathing presence of the Bride of 
Christ. 

John Henry Hopkins savr that at last the time had come for the 
Church to break through this wall of Anglicanism and claim her 
rights as a national Catholic Church. So he set himself to war 
against the old conservatism. Few seem to have understood this. 
But the fact can be shown most clearly, and it explains the animos- 
ities he aroused, and why he was called upon to suffer so many 
slights, and why he vras so cruelly and so basely wounded in the end 
of his days. There was, to be sure, a great war to be waged in the 
Church before the Low Church party, as a party, could be crushed 
and scattered, and he was in the thick of the battle. Fortune 
fought with him in this, and it only needed a few of his Napo- 
leonic strokes to overwhelm them. But, first and last, his great 
battle was against the old High • Church party — the party of 
stiffened Anglicanism, vdth its balancing, its unintelligent horror 
of Rome, its bookish way of looking at the Church between the 
age of Gregory the Great and the English Reformation, itsrlack 
of devotion, from obscuring the teaching of the Cross as a living 
power demanding sacrifice, its isolation from the great currents of 
Catholic life, and from the earnest zeal of jSIethodism, its dread 



1850-67.1 Life of John Henry Hopkins. 79 

of offending the world, and its ostentatious avoidance of any form 
of spiritual life that spoke of the need of conversion, and personal 
devotion and enthusiasm. His whole life was devoted to obtain- 
ing liberty for the Church to live her own life. To be a Catholic 
was to be, with him, as free in God's house as Americans are in 
our commonwealth. No life had been in the past that might not 
be again, in its soul and principle of being, in a Catholic Amer- 
ican Church. No life was outside her that was not akin to some- 
thing within her, or which at worst was not a perversion of her 
teaching. No sects existed, except as monuments of sins in her 
own past life. Furthermore, he looked upon the Church here as 
the one destined by the Providence of God for the settling of the 
problems of the past. The very slowness toward change, which 
is so characteristic of the Anglican temper, but made all changes, 
when made, more solid and enduring. That he was a contro- 
versialist is true, but it was not the essence of his life. Here the 
controversies are not detailed except as necessary for the setting 
forth of the story of his life. There had to be fightings, and he 
was a good fighter. His highest title to the esteem of his fellows 
is to be found in his self-sacrificing devotion to the Church and 
his plans for her growth, so that she may be the great missionary 
force which follows the banner of the King, and seeks but His 
eternal glory. 

In Europe the road to realizing the destiny of a free Catholic 
Church was hindered on all sides by State interference, and by 
the struggle of the local Roman Church for temporal power. 
Here the way was open for the re-union of Catholic Christendom, 
and for the adhesion to the Church of all sound, sweet Christian 
elements now separated from Catholic communion. This is the 
key to all his efforts toward Christian unity. No one living in 
the Church here had, up to the time of his death in 1891, so 
continuously and so strongly urged upon Christians the need of 
union. Others argued as strongly, or as keenly, or appealed with 
as much earnestness, but for full forty years, at least, he did what 
he could to learn how others thought and felt, and tried to show 
how Anglicans look at the matter, and that Catholics alone 
can invoke authority and love in one. Furthermore, he never 
took the mistaken course of minimizing Church doctrines and 
ways, and thus leading men to accept them in another sense 
than the usual and Catholic meaning. His propositions as a 
basis for negotiating with various religious bodies are far clearer, 
and we believe more honest, than the now well-known Chicago- 



So A Champion of the Cross. [1850-67. 

Lambeth Quadrilateral, and they go much further. In saying 
that he was the '' most liberal " in his terms of any offered to 
the world for agreement it must be understood as meaning from 
his o^^^l standpoint of complete acceptance of the Church. 

No mere confederation, or mixture of sects satisfied him. Over 
and over again he showed the idleness of trying to form a great 
union Protestant Church, for he saw that it is absolutely impos- 
sible to predicate unity of Protestantism, and that unity ^^^th 
Rome is of absolute necessity, as well as with the great Catholic 
communions of the East. Nothing less than the complete resto- 
ration of Cathohc communion satisfied him, although it must be 
with a far different Rome from the one which now endeavors to 
palm itself off upon the world as representing the only genuine 
Catholicity. 

He saw, too, in this matter that the whole state of Christendom 
is abnormal ; the Paschal Lamb has no bone broken, but as He 
hangs upon the Cross all His bones are out of joint. 

As long as events shape themselves according to present cir- 
cumstances, mere treaties and negotiations are preliminary to 
nearer approach. There are a myriad of old quarrels to be rec- 
onciled, and the best that can be done is to hold the old Cath- 
olic ground, and wait, listening for the call of God. It may be 
that this reunion, fondly dreamed of and prayed for, apparently 
so hopelessly, will yet come, not ^^ith Pentecostal fire and breath- 
ing, but when, according to the quaint prophecy of Saint Malachi, 
the last Pope — according to which there are but ten remaining — 
' ' In the last persecution of the sacred Roman Church, Peter the 
Roman shall sit, and feed the flock amid many tribulations, after 
which the seven-hilled city shall be overthrown, and the tremen- 
dous Judge shall judge the people." 

No word that he ever wrote, however, can ever be turned into 
anything like an admission of present anti - Catholic Roman 
claims, or of her anti-Catholic and unhistorical teachings. As 
long as they are made terms of communion by Rome they must 
be resisted for the sake of Catholicity. But he was not discour- 
aged in his efforts by the Vatican definitions of 1870, nor by the 
contempt poured upon the Anglican Bishops* propositions, for 
he never expected to see any appreciable approach on either 
side. Herein he showed the disposition of the saints, for he 
labored from the very highest motive, a desire for the manifes- 
tation of our Lord's glory in the coming near of His King- 
dom. That he should be allowed to work at all in so ojeat a 



1850-67.] Life of Jo Jin Henry Hopkins. 81 

cause was joy enough for him, and with single-heartedness he 
did what he could and left the rest without fretfulness or anxiety 
to God. 

Nothing less than this restoration of Catholic communion is 
the tenninus ad qiiem of the Catholic movement in the Anglican 
communion. 



CHAPTER VI. 

1868. 

The battle against the radical wing of the evangelicals, 
whose principles were really (at bottom at least) quite different 
from those of the old evangelicals of Simeon's school, was, 
while it lasted, one for life or death. If the radicals had then 
triumphed, sooner or later not only the '' Catholic party " would 
have been driven away, but a very large portion indeed of the 
old High Church party would have been forced out also. A 
good many of both would have been driven to Rome, a good 
many more would have sunk into mere liberalism. Nevertheless, 
even Mr. Hopkins did not intend to force the radicals into 
a schism, and his optimistic spirit refused to recognize that some 
of them were so exasperated that nothing else would satisfy them 
but a Church of their own. Up to the very last, and for some 
time after the deposition of Dr. Cheney in 187 1, he did not see, 
what was perfectly plain to almost every one else, that there 
would be a schism. Probably, too, one great reason for the at- 
tempts made in 1868 and 187 1 to legislateon ritual and ceremonial 
matters, was that the great body of the Church wished to avert 
the imminent event. That would account very largely for the 
sacrifice made of Drs. Seymour and De Koven. It did keep 
down to virtual insignificance the members of those drawn after 
Bishop Cummins and Dr. Cheney, and their associates. 

In the Church Jom'ual, and in many pamphlets, letters, and 
review articles, Mr. Hopkins contended for the development of 
the full power of the Church. Of course he took strong " High 
Church" ground, because in his contention for the right of the 
Church to exhibit its own life, there was no other ground to take. 
But he was a churchman, and it was characteristic of him to 
allow to every other man the liberty he claimed for himself. 
Accordingly, he again and again protested for those rights. 
And he was never a mere partisan. 

Another thing should be considered, and that is, the way in 



I868.J Life of John Henry Hopkins. 83 

which he distinguished between persons and their acts. So far as 
can be learnt, even in the case of one controversy where he 
dealt a crushing and completely overwhelming blow, he could 
never be made to believe that he was not forgiven for it ; al- 
though he realized it at the last when the one who for years had 
dogged his footsteps, never losing the least chance to assail, 
whether openly or in secret by insinuation and innuendo, at last 
(aided by cowards) delivered the stroke that well-nigh broke his 
stout heart, he never bore any malice nor could understand that 
any other could do so. 

This habit of identifying an opponent personally with his 
cause seems to be a weakness of the clerical mind. Lawyers and 
statesmen understand the distinction, priests hardly ever do. 

There were four united on the editorial staff of the Church 
Journal. In their editorial capacity all stood on an equality, 
though necessarily the greater part of the labor fell to the share of 
the one who made it his chief business. These associates of Mr. 
Hopkins were Rev. Drs. Rowland, Hobart, and Milo Mahan. 
This connection lasted till the outbreak of the Civil War. 

Of all the men who influenced John Henry Hopkins, Dr. 
Mahan took by far the most important place. They were men 
of just enough likeness and difference to make that rare com- 
bination, perfect friendship. Dr. Mahan was not so versatile 
as Hopkins, nor so bright and keen and combative ; but his 
mind was deeper, and there can hardly be any question that it 
was owing to Mahan' s influence upon Hopkins that the latter 
was led so quickly into seeing something better, truer, and richer 
than a realization of even the standard of the English Reformation. 
Dr. Hopkins cherished a very deep affection for his friend and 
colleague, and after his death edited all his works, in three vol- 
umes, prefixing to the last volume a memoir. He always spoke 
of him with the utmost admiration, and reckoned him as the 
very greatest clergyman, whether priest or bishop, that the 
American Church had produced. 

For some years after the Journal was founded there were no 
great trials to the Church. The strain upon its fabric, after the 
Gorham case, was lessened, men recovered from their panic, and 
the quiet upbuilding of the Temple went on. There was, to be 
sure, some pressure from the evangelicals, and some little trouble 
from the founding of their volunteer societies. 

There were sneers at '' ecclesiologists," and bitter denuncia- 
tions of very mild changes from the old order as popery, and 



84 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

the innovation of " preaching in a surphce " was pronounced to 
be a proof of the real purpose of the ' • conspirators against the 
peace of the Church." Great revivals swept over the land, and 
the evangelical clergymen lost their footing in the rush. But 
their prayer -meetings and fraternizations with the denominations 
affected the laity but little. They had, many of them, been 
tlirough those experiences before, and wanted none of it repeated 
in Church. Of those clergymen. Bishop Alonzo Potter in 1854 
wrote : ''I must confess to some vexation and impatience, when 
I see the golden opportunity for the growth of a truly catholic 
and evangelical churchmanship endangered by men whose mis- 
sion in this world seems to be to find fault with the ecclesiastical 
lot which they inherit from their fathers, or to set their brethren 
by the ears. Our laymen, as a general rule, will have church- 
manship. They want that of a generous tolerant type ; tolerant 
toward those within as well as those without. If they can't get 
it, many of them will take the chiu-chmanship and let the 
toleration go ; and our friends will find themselves where hitherto 
they always have been, in a minority, which deprives them of 
the power of directing the legislation or policy of the Church." 

But on the whole, the Church movement went on without any 
serious check, and about as fast as was wholesome. 

The course of iki^ Journal was to advocate everything that 
would make strength felt, to concentrate and not to scatter, and 
to render every organ of the body more efficient. This is il- 
lustrated by the words of Bishop Seymour : '' On my ordination 
I was sent by my bishop in 1854 to Annandale, where in the 
good providence of God I was enabled to found and build up, 
with a fair prospect of success which has since been achieved, 
St. Stephen's College, a training school for the sacred ministry. 
Among those who helped me with sympathy and counsel, after 
I leave the Bishop of New York, Dr. McVickar, and Mr. John 
Bard, the first munificent donor of land and money, I must rank 
next in order Rev. John Henry Hopkins." Its whole plan was 
constructive ; but in order to this it had to wake up the Church, 
and it did not mince its words, or take a roundabout way. It 
knew the value of agitation, and when once a matter was started 
it was not dropped for good as long as there seemed any chance 
to make anything out of it. 

Dr. Hopkins always maintained that the Anglican Church, by 
insisting so strongly that its clergy should be ''gentlemen and 
scholars," had lost its touch ^dth the great mass of the people. 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 85 

The revival of the diaconate was advocated by him as a means 
of remedying this defect, for defect it is. A new canon, allow- 
ing the ordination of deacons who had not certain qualifications, 
was adopted in 1853, and for some time he argued for the full 
use of the canon. To all intents and purposes the canon is a 
failure, and only offers a short cut to the priesthood. But his 
arguments are still valid, and accordingly some of them are here- 
in set down. 

^' We would have the diaconate and the priesthood stand 
each on its own bottom. The diaconate, as being more diffusive, 
miscellaneous, practical, necessarily requires more of ' quantity ' 
and less of ' quality ' than the priesthood. The priesthood, on 
the other hand, as being more concentrate, more purely sacer- 
dotal and prophetic, looks more to the quality of its incumbents. 
One hand can find employment for five fingers. We should 
deem it a poor parish, very ill provided with ' young, sick, poor, 
and impotent people ' in which one active priest could not carve 
out work for at least five such deacons as are contemplated by the 
ordinal. 

^' The requirement that deacons should be of like 'quality' 
with priests tends practically to annihilate the diaconate. 

'' . . . The most formidable difficulty in the way of the 
practical efficiency of the canon is the question how far it ex- 
poses us to the danger of lowering the style and standard of 
ministerial qualifications. It may unquestionably tend to lower 
the standard of learning as a qualification for the lowest order of 
the ministry. The call to preach the Gospel — we speak of 
course of the ' inward call ' — goes forth as of old among the 
many. This being the case, it is manifestly the duty of the 
Church to provide some way in which those having such a call 
may be enabled to obey it without violating Church order. An 
unlearned ministry is, and ever has been, a great power in the 
world. It is certain that it is useless to forbid such a ministry. 
In some form or other it will exist in the world. 

'' If it exists not for us, it will surely exist against us. What we 
admire in ' the Ordering of Deacons ' is, that the solemn office so 
clearly defines the limits within which such a ministry may be 
safely and usefully permitted. It does not follow that there 
would be any lowering of intellectual qualifications. The fruit 
of all education is found in good sense, and the ability to use 
readily and discreetly such talents as God has given. A man 



86 A Champioji of the Cross. [i868. 

may have all these and not know a word of Latin, Greek, or 
Hebrew. 

'' As to the second order of the ministry, there need be no low- 
ering of its style and qualifications if only the bishops, standing 
committees, and others in authority are willing to do their 
duty. 

" The door of the priesthood is guarded by a canon requiring 
not only good sense but a particular kind of learning. We 
see no reason why the canon should make examiners less strict 
than they have been hitherto. . . , Besides all this, nothing 
tends more to the preservation of learning than a proper division 
of labor. To be a learned man one must give himself mainly to 
study. How impossible this is in our present system is pretty 
generally understood and admitted. A few thorough scholars in 
the Church will do more to create a .high style of scholarship 
than a slight tincture of learning equally distributed among all. 
Our present evil is that everything tends to an average of 
mediocrity. We have no unlearned ministers. We have none, 
on the other hand, thoroughly learned. . . . Give us, if 
possible, educated men ; but if educated men are not to be had, 
let us have at all events men of zeal and piety and natural ability. 
With an abundance of these, with strict examinations, we should 
hope to see learning among our clergy of a higher style and 
standing than a sparse and overworked ministry can possibly 
attain. There will be found in almost every congregation one or 
more earnest, devout, zealous men whose free labors have been 
given for years to Sunday-school teaching, visiting, and other 
duties properly belonging to the diaconate, and who if called by 
the voice of authority would at once obey the call, though they 
might never think of offering themselves. Our bishops have 
much more power in this matter than they dream of. We 
believe that the grace of Holy Orders will be given most fully to 
such men. They are already to some extent doing deacon's 
work: then give them the deacon's commission. When the 
deacon's work is again done by a deacon we believe we shall be 
justified in expecting more of God's blessing upon it than nov/ 
when it is done by laymen, or women, or not done at all. In 
such men the grace of Holy Orders will strengthen and heighten 
every other grace which they already possess. What is now a 
voluntary service will then become a solemn duty. What is now 
zeal toward men will then become a responsibility in the sight 
of God. What is now the benevolence of human kindness will 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkiris. 87 

then be heightened and ennobled by the stamp of divine au- 
thority. ' ' 

The latter part of the quotation is a sufficient argument, 
although it by no means comes up to all that is said on the 
point, to overcome the theory often heard in these latter days 
that laymen' s work is better for the Church than clergymen's 
work. Now, as when Hopkins wrote the words, there are no 
deacons : deacons are but inchoate priests. 

He thus continues as to another point : '^ Many of the laity 
are now engaged in doing some of the proper and most special 
work of the diaconate. And if it were not out of character in 
an apostle to make his living with his own hands rather than be 
burdensome to some whose faith was yet weak, much more may 
our deacons support themselves by similar honest callings until 
the faith and zeal of the Church shall be sufficient to support 
them in the devotion of their whole life to her service ; a time 
not likely to come immediately, for it is hard work as yet to 
keep the priests from starving. That feeling of the sac7^edness of 
the diaconate is certainly overstrained which practically forbids 
the existence of the order amongst us at all. No order of the 
ministry was so sacred but that it was meant to be used rather 
than to be left alone. Others have so exalted an idea of the dig- 
nity of the ministry that they fear lest this may suffer. This is a 
mistake, for by giving reality to the diaconate as a distinct or- 
der, the priesthood, now practically the lowest order in the min- 
istry, will be raised by having a whole order laboring in manifest 
subordinatiou to it. And as to deacons themselves, tlieir truest 
dignity is to do deacon's work.'' 

The tenth part of the argument is not quoted here, because 
the old tradition still masters the field. It is set down, because 
the making real of deacon's work was one of Dr. Hopkins' 
ideas, which he never changed ; and as to his references to a 
learned ministry, the very last article he ever wrote, on his 
death-bed, has these following words : 

" All the honest learning that can be acquired can be made 
useful in the ministry. The true question here is, how much 
learning ought to be required of every man before he is suffered 
to exercise any part of the ministry of the Word ? 

" The Anglican tradition is that every clergyman should be ' a 
gentleman and a scholar.' . . . Is it not possible that we 



88 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

have carried this thing jnst a little too far ? Let us look at the 
fruits of the system in a large way. How has it been in other 
countries ? We answer fearlessly that wherever the bulk of the 
priesthood has been taken from the bulk of the population, so 
that social sympathy has not been severed, that the Church has 
retained her hold upon the bulk of the population, no matter 
what drawbacks may have existed in any direction whatever. 
There may have been evils of other sorts — ignorance, supersti- 
tion, or even immorality — but no other religious organization, 
on any pretext, has ever been able to get the bulk of the common 
people out of the hands of the clergy of the Church. 

" But how has it been in England? There, ev^ery schismat- 
ical movement, without exception, has been mainly on a lower 
social level than the bulk of the National Church. And what is 
the chief reason of this but the feeling that the clergy were too 
much ' scholars and gentlemen ' to have real sympathy with the 
common people. And the common people do not like to be 
patronized by those who feel themselves above them. They are 
ten times as likely to crowd after those who, as they understand 
it, do not set up to be belter than themselves. 

'' . . . How did the Methodists arise and rapidly become 
so powerful ? Simply because they struck mainly into that 
stratum of the population which felt (rightly or wrongly) that 
they had not the sympathy of a ministry who all claimed to be 
' scholars and gentlemen ! ' True enough, John Wesley and his 
brother Charles, and some few others of his chief helpers, were 
scholars ajid gentlemen ; but what shall we say of the great body 
of preachers who were gathered about them, and by whom, after 
all, the chief part of the actual work was done ? They were of 
the common people. They were not ' scholars.' They were not 
' gentlemen.' They did not pretend to be. Hardly any one of 
them could have stood an examination for deacon's orders. They 
did not always talk even grammatical English ; but their hearts 
were on fire with zeal. They had a very respectable familiarity 
with their English Bibles. They threw themselves into the work 
with all their hearts and souls. They knew how to influence 
men — careless, hardened, godless men. They did a wonderful 
work. And if the laws of the Church of England had been as 
free as those of the primitive Church, they, or most of them, 
might have been in Orders in the Church, and there would have 
been no schism at all. 

" And to come down to our own times, how are we to account 



1 868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 89 

for the wonderful and strange work of the Salvation Army ? It 
is simply the same old story over again. That army draws its 
officers and its rank and file from those classes which feel that 
they have no practical sympathy with a Church whose priests are 
all 'scholars and gentlemen.' Practical, social sympathy is a 
far more effective weapon among vast masses of men and women 
than a university degree or the manners of polite and refined so- 
ciety ; and in the work of propagating the Gospel among man- 
kind at large, nothing can make up for the want of it. The 
Church must have a priesthood in practical sympathy with all 
classes, if she is to do her work among all classes. And as this 
cannot be done by bringing up all priests to the same social 
level, the Church must make up her mind to have priests in so- 
cial sympathy with the different levels among which she is to do 
her work. 

' ' Some say that the Methodists themselves are aware of their 
lack of education, and that they have been trying to make up 
for it, and that there are now among them some men of very re- 
spectable learning. All very true. And in proportion as they 
succeed in this, they are losing precisely that singular force 
among the common people which was the fountain of their orig- 
inal strength. They are imitating us, and with unhappy luck 
are imitating our weak points instead of our strong ones. The 
noblest and holiest revenge we can take will be to learn from 
them the secret of their original strength. 

" Again, it may be objected that all these movements have been 
oh unchurchly lines, and have run into schisms. Certainly. 
And w^hat does the Lord permit schisms for, except that they 
may teach His Church, when she will not learn in any other 
way, what particular part of her own work she has neglected or 
has performed wrongly. The Church, therefore, has something 
practically to learn from every sect or schism. And the Church 
in learning from the sect should be careful to ascertain precisely 
that one point which originally gave it vitality. 

'' The great body of the common people will never be reached 
by any other way than by opening the doors of the ministry 
wider and wider to that class socially and intellectually which 
gave to Methodism its earlier and more astonishing successes; 
only those ministers must be Churchmen and not Methodists. 

" But to carry out this great change effectively, other changes 
also are needed. The bishop, with such a varied ministry, must 
be clothed with much more of vigorous and personal adminis- 



90 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

trative power. It will not do to leave everything to be regulated 
solely by written canons. And if the bishops are to have this 
additional work put upon them two other changes are equally 
necessary. One is, that dioceses must be made smaller, so that 
the work can be handled by one man, and the mere multiplica- 
tion of archdeacons and such like will not do. The other is 
that provinces must be formed. ... In all this we should 
simply be returning to the plain and universal practice of the 
primitive Church." 

John Henry Hopkins was brought up in a very torrent of en- 
thusiasm for the Church — the Catholic Church. There were no 
hidings in the earth of her life-giving current to his eyes. And 
he saw with hopefulness for single souls, and deep love for 
God, that she had the promise of all the workings of the Holy 
Spirit with His love. His illuminative teaching, and His liberty. 
He saw that while men might reach single men, that more by 
far was needed than that. The Church is not a mere assembly 
of men of like faith and hope and love, but Christ makes the 
Church ; and so Hopkins saw her as the Bride adorned for her 
Spouse with His own gifts ; the new Jerusalem, coming down — 
the joy of the whole earth revealed from Heaven. It was not 
enough to create ; men must also be kept. Yet the all-glorious, 
the spotless Church, was not here, but to be hereafter when the 
chaff had been winnowed from the threshing-floor. 

He saw failures in the showing forth of the divine life ; great 
practical corruptions in the Roman Church ; equally harmful 
conservatism in the Anglican of post-reformation ideas. If 
the Roman corruptions poisoned the stream, the Anglican cor- 
ruptions restrained it too narrowly, and one worked as much 
harm as the other. Anglican tradition was keeping things which, 
in view of far greater and more precious things kept out by it, 
were not worth keeping. Hopkins in setting about to work 
practical reforms in the Church had to suffer ; and he deliber- 
ately chose a track, because he loved the Church, which cut 
across the way of her teaching at the time ; whereas, by his 
powers, his talents, and goodness and zeal, if he had chosen, 
without a particle of self-seeking, he might have had any office in 
her gift. 

Men called him a dreamer, a doctrinaire. No words were 
ever more inappropriately applied to man. Plenty of men before 
him, and men enough in his own times, taught very much the 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 91 

same things. It was because he tried to put his ideas to practice 
that men suspected, or feared, or hated him. Bishop White. was 
the first American churchman to see that provinces must sooner 
or later be formed here ; others saw it after him ; but Hopkins 
showed the way practically to set them up, and that was too 
much for hide-bound conservatism. 

Other Church agitators before him had been content to work in 
a narrow track, or by themselves ; they attacked weak points. 
Hopkins was as fearless as he was lucid in expression. A strong 
point was no more dreaded by him, if he thought he ought to 
speak out, than a weak one. He even dared to point his spear 
at Trinity Church herself, and challenged her to a battle a ou- 
trance.^ He pleaded again and again for fairness in the distribu- 
tion of offices in the gift of the New York Convention. In those 
early days there was " a regency " of High Churchmen in the di- 
ocese of New York, and what was done w^as done by their direc- 
tion, or concession. Low Churchmen in those days of bitterness 
had little chance of gaining power. Yet here Hopkins asked for 
fair dealing, asserting rightly that power would bring with it the 
sense of responsibility, and allay strife, and thus promote better 
work. 

No man in the Church has ever advocated so constantly, so 
powerfully, and so acutely the formation of .r;;/^// dioceses. Here 
again it was not his mere argument that made men opposed to 
him. It was because he at once began the work of making his 
arguments take concrete form, f Year after year he kept going the 

* In the course of the first half of this century there were several attempts 
made to strip Trinity Church of her landed property. Trinity was the 
strong centre of church life and temporal strength. In some of the latest 
attacks Hopkins joined ; and in two pamphlets : "Poor Trinity,"' and "Rich 
Trinity," reminded the trustees of the duties that lay upon them of spending 
their income for the good of the whole church in the city. He carefully ex- 
amined the records as to every separate parcel of land, set down the times 
when leases would fall in, and calculated their values. There was a concur- 
rent effort in the Legislature of New York State, and one report was pre- 
pared by him in the course of a single night, and sent out by the first mail 
train to Albany the next morning, reaching there in time for legislative ac- 
tion. 

Two significant sequels show the power and justice of his action. One is 
that Trinity does now exist for the good of all, and her expenditures are now 
far beyond her income from endowments, and the second, that no such at- 
tacks have ever since been made, nor any at all, except upon different 
grounds, 

f He writes to his mother. May 25, 1883, Midnight : " Dearest Mother, be- 
fore I sleep I must tell you what a wonderful day this has been to me, beyond 



92 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

movement for dividing the Diocese of New York. When other 
men dropped the matter, after a defeat, or when interest flagged, 
he returned again to the charge with the same zest and vigor. 
At one time Bishop Horatio Potter ceased to use the Church 
Journal as an organ of communication with the diocese. To Dr. 
Hopkins, more than to any other one man it is due that there are 
now three dioceses where there was formerly but one ; and his 
influence was felt also in the concurrent division of the Diocese of 
Western New York. The only wonder is that with the marvel- 
lous results of those divisions before the eyes of men — far exceed- 
ing his enthusiastic prophecy — no further divisions have taken 
place for so many years. Long ago he showed how not less than 
twelve dioceses should be formed in New York State. Hand in 
hand with his plans for small dioceses was his plan for the forma- 
tion of provinces, advocated with like force and pertinacity. 

Another institution of the Church in which his interest was 
deeper and more loving than his interest in others was the Gen- 
eral Theological Seminary. In his letter home written en route 
to Georgia he relates the story of what seems to have been his 
first visit there. Of it he was an alumnus. Two of its faculty, 

any other day of my life. Besides working for division in my own diocese, I 
have been doing all I could for the movement in the four dioceses of Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. I have been in correspond- 
ence with clergy or laity or both, in all these dioceses ; and large numbers 
of my pamphlet on the subject have been circulated in all these dioceses, 
having been, in some cases, brought prominently forward in the discus- 
sions. All the four have held their conventions either this week or last 
week. 

"This morning, just after breakfast, I received a telegram from the secre- 
tary of the Kentucky Convention, announcing that division had been carried 
by 19 to I of the clergy, and 17 to 3 of the laity ! The eleven o'clock mail 
brought me a long letter fi-om Virginia, showing that though, on the bishop's 
claim that his health had permanently broken down, they had elected an 
assistant, they went on the next day to consider division. They knew that, 
from the difficulty of fixing a line, it would not be possible to get it through 
this time ; when the motion ivas made to lay the subject on the table, on the 
ground of the bishop's strong hostility, and their having just elected an 
assistant, the vote was made a test question of strength as to division ; and 
our friends carried the day. They defeated the motion by 3 to I of the 
clergy and 2 to i of the laity ! And the opponents have given up the game ! 
Just after supper I received another telegram from North Carolina, inform- 
ing me that division had been carried there by a clerical vote of 41 to 12, 
and a lay vote of 26 to 11, with one parish 'divided ! ' And at 9.30 P.M., 
calling on a friend to talk over the good news, he showed me a telegram in 
a Philadelphia paper, announcing that, in Tennessee, the division of the 
diocese had been carried by an ' overwhelming majority ! ' This caps the 
climax, and I go to bed almost too happy to sleep ! " 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 93 

Drs. Mahan and S. R. Johnson, were his warm friends. He gave 
his services after his graduation as instructor in music. When, 
long afterward, he was made a trustee, he considered it his 
sacred duty to be always present at all meetings, unless a higher 
duty, such as the meeting of a diocesan convention at the same 
time, made it impossible for him to come. 

But that seminary was, as has already been mentioned, sus- 
pected of being given over to Puseyism. Some dioceses, although 
it was a general institution, never contributed the least sum 
toward its keeping. Some bishops forbade their candidates for 
Holy Orders to attend it. Other bishops desired schools of their 
own. All these things tried the seminary severely. But there 
were other troubles besides. For some time the finances of the 
seminary had been in an increasingly unsatisfactory condition. 
The payment of the Kohne legacy of one hundred thousand dol- 
lars, anxiously looked forward to for many years as the cure of 
every stringency, had disappointed these glowing expectations, 
owing to grievous mismanagement in its investment. There was 
an entire disinclination on the part of the Board of Trustees to 
examine into the matter. A large body of men, coming together 
for only a few hours' session once a year is not likely to manage 
the work of an investigation willingly or wisely. He was satis- 
fied that an exposure of the facts in the Church Journal ^d& the 
only thing that would lead to any amendment, and was ready 
to begin the work in' 1858. But Professors Mahan and Johnson, 
who were the most grievous sufferers in income by the then 
state of affairs, begged him not to do so, and he yielded. The 
next year he was ready once more, as all the pledges of amend- 
ment had remained unfulfilled. But they both, again, so 
earnestly insisted that he should refrain, that he yielded once 
more ; and they suffered silently one year longer. A third time 
they attempted the same self-denying intercession, of affirming 
that the treasurer had made strong promises of amendment : but 
he was satisfied that he could not keep them, on that system of 
doing business, and that the sooner the change was effected the 
better. The war therefore began. And though it did not secure 
a thorough investigation by a committee of the board, which it 
ought to have done — the laity largely voting for it, and the 
clergy against it — yet it brought about a very general change in 
the whole financial management of the institution, including the 
appointment of H. E. Pierrepont, Esq., as treasurer, who navi- 
gated his charge into comparatively clear water. 



94 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

This is Dr. Hopkins' own account, given in his memoir of Dr. 
Mahan, but he does not indicate the storm, nor how it raged. 
It is no part of the purpose which the present writer has, to go 
into details of past controversy, much less to give them, hardly 
dying, even now, into embers, any new warmth. But these 
stories show something besides pugnacity in John Henry Hopkins. 
They show his hold upon the very points at issue, they show his 
steadfast zeal, for he never entered a combat lightly, and never 
withdrew till the campaign was ended, and they show his inde- 
pendence and moral courage. There used to be in school read- 
ing books a tale of a Switzer who in the wars for freedom against 
Austria rushed against the ranks of the enemy, grasped his own 
strong brand and cleared a way for his companions in arms to 
follow, but fell himself, receiving the hostile spears into his own 
breast. Hopkins was a nobler Winkelreid. And he was content 
to die with all the points of hatred, or distrust, ingratitude or 
neglect in his heart, if the Church were freer, and stronger in her 
march. 

Some causes advocated by him in the Church Journal met 
with more success. In them he was not so nearly alone. 

One of these was the cause of free churches. In these days, 
even in pewed churches, there is nothing like the exclusiveness 
of other times. Members of parishes of the Episcopal Church 
were usually people of social position, refinement, and wealth. 
The manifold variety of Church work done now was undreamed 
of then. The Church prided itself upon the standing of its 
members in society, and the duty of taking the poor, or the 
people of little means, into the field of Church life was very im- 
perfectly carried out. There are now so many free churches 
that it seems strange that less than one column in the Church 
Journal contained a list of all the free churches in the country, 
less than forty years ago. The Church of the Holy Commun- 
ion, founded by Dr. Muhlenberg, and the Church of the Ad- 
vent, in Boston, were the most noteworthy of those ventures of 
faith. But Hopkins did valiant service in this field. He also 
argued strongly in favor of having service at night instead of the 
afternoon, as was the usual custom in the Church. 

So many services are now held at all sorts of hours, and there 
is such a variety in the ways of using the Prayer-book, that we 
often fail to realize the rigid customs of a generation ago, which 
had almost the force of law, and how strong a current of inno- 
vation, as it was thought to be, which should force men to 



1 868. J Life of John Henry Hopkms. 95 

dream of coming to church at any other hour, or for any other 
services than the old ones. 

" 'The Church as it was,' was the favorite watchword with 
all those who were conservatives. With them the Church was 
but the most efficient means of keeping things quiet, in the 
one unvarying routine to which they had themselves been accus- 
tomed. For a clergyman to preach in a surplice, or without 
bands, was quite as much a scandal to them as if he should 
preach transubstantiation, or impugn an article of the Nicene 
Creed. To them, a change w^as a change ; all change was bad, 
and one change was as bad as another. This sort of conser- 
vatism abounded among churchmen of both parties, and also 
among those who disclaimed all connection with either party. 

" Others there were who took up the same cry because they 
held on principle nothing that was distinctive about her. 

-' Others, once again, there were, who in principle were all 
they ought to have been, but in feeling had allowed themselves 
to confound the fashions of the present with the universal truths 
of all climes and times of Christendom. 

'' On the other hand there were many whose zeal for the 
Church had never hardened into any particular school of opin- 
ion, or been tied up in the harness of party. Their minds, be- 
ing honest and free from obstruction, were perhaps too ready to 
go in for anything new, and therefore their zeal needed to be 
watched and restrained. 

'' But the hope of the Church was in those heartily, intelli- 
gently, and devotedly hers in principle, and who wished nothing 
more than to be hers in practice. Their hearts needed but to 
beat their way through the crust of obstructive conservatism 
which stood between them and the work which needed to be 
done ; the great Ship of the Church rocking 

' As idle as a painted ship 
Upon a painted ocean,' 

only because so many of her crew had a prejudice against hoist- 
ing sails to take advantage of the freshening breeze. 

'' This being the situation as Hopkins shaped it in his mind, for 
these are his words, he went on to ask : • Is it in accordance with 
Catholic antiquity that dioceses should become so immense that 
the practical influence of the bishops in each parish is reduced to 
nothing? Can it be wondered at that a ministry thus cramped 
in its first Order, and almost destroyed in its third, should be- 



g6 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

come so practically inefficient that it can hardly command its 
daily bread without resorting to the arts of professional mendic- 
ity? Is it a true conservatism which would reject every plan 
for the more efficient organization of the laity in the work of 
Church benevolence, when the world and the sects are already 
swarming with such societies, and when common sense requires 
us to make some such provision among our own people for self- 
preservation at least ? Is it fulfilling the saying of our Lord that 
'' to the poor the Gospel is preached " to rest content with the 
disgrace of having lost our hold on the middle and lower classes 
of society, more wholly than has ever been the case in any other 
branch of the Church Catholic in all Christendom ? Is it main- 
taining the faith once delivered to the saints, to be practically ele- 
vating the most modern and unimportant portions of our ritual, 
into the unbending dignity and indispensable obligation of an 
article of the Christian Faith without assenting to which no man 
can be permitted even to enter the Church ? ' 

'' Communities of men fall into an undiscerning routine and re- 
ligious communities are subject to the same infirmity. The 
Church of England long ago fell into this dry routine method. 
We inherited the method, and the spirit that grew up under it. 
She is vigorously recovering herself from dulness, dryness, and 
barrenness. But we have by no means kept pace with her. We 
have peculiarly a Protestant Episcopal routine of our own. It 
has been created naturally. It rose out of circumstances. It 
is, generally speaking, a very good routine, if recognized as such, 
and so regarded by us all. It consists in planting missionary 
stations, forming parishes, holding conventions, raising funds, 
and keeping the Church machinery going. There is a deal of 
work connected with all this : but after all, it is routine work. 
It gets to be mechanical. It smoothes the way in parishes and 
dioceses so materially that Presbyterial and Episcopal reputations 
are made by it, the justness of which we do not question, nor 
disparage their worth. But this routine, essential as it is, can be 
lifted above the dryness of mere custom only by the definiteness 
of purpose with which it is administered, and by a lively sense of 
the great object which it promotes. 

" We question whether this definiteness of purpose and sensi- 
tiveness of spirit exist among us in a degree sufficient to save the 
Protestant Episcopal Church from the reproach of discharging its 
office in a somewhat unapprehensive way ; living along from year 
to year in the work which its natural growth provides for it, and 



1 868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 97 

in its traditional manner, but not seeming to observe, reflect, plan, 
and execute, with a view as comprehensive as its Apostolic des- 
cent and its Catholic relations would lead men to expect, and 
with a confidence which its conscious possession of principles that 
were capable of enduring the test of ages, would abundantly 
justify. 

"For what are we organizing dioceses and electing bishops? 
For what are we training candidates and ordaining them to the 
ministry ? Why is this vast machinery set working wherever the 
nation extends itself and society presents a surface to work upon ? 

" ' To save the souls of men,' is, of course, the ready answer. 
But is it so ? We deplore the painful certainty that it is not so. 
Ask the American people to give the answer to the question : Has 
the Episcopal Church, as a Church, presented itself to you as exist- 
ing for you all, capable of embracing you all, so designed and 
bound to fulfil its design, ready and anxious and trying to do so, 
under the constraining love for your souls as being in such a sense 
her care, that nothing else on earth can fill her place toward 
you, and be the spiritual mother of you all ? 

" Does anyone suppose that they would give it any other than 
one answer ? The Episcopal Church is a highly respected de- 
nomination among us, and we believe that it is found to be 
strong and formidable by the sects, in controversy respecting 
a certain authority which it claims for its bishops. As repre- 
sented by its public acts, we have not seen the bearing we should 
look for in a Church that claimed to be the Divinely appointed 
agent of our salvation. It seems to us, in the main, like one 
of the Christian sects, though with some striking peculiarities, of 
which we find it hard to get a consistent and satisfactory view, 
as the Episcopal Church presents itself to us in its practical 
working. Now, bishops, priests, and deacons, rites and cere- 
monies, creeds and sacraments, and all that is distinctive in the 
Church, exist for the salvation of men of all classes. We can give 
no other reason for their existence. We could care for them on 
no other principle. W^e see not on what other ground they can 
be zealously maintained as a religious system or effectually ad- 
ministered. And what we have to do is to revive the spirit of 
such an administration of them. Let us inquire with patient 
diligence and fidelity what we can do to make all men see and 
feel the truth and power which we believe are in the Church. 
Let us go freshly to work, escaping from the dulness of usage 
and the dryness of perfunctory labor, in the consciousness that 



98 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

vre seek only to do the work of Christ, and in the assurance that 
the Church way is the shortest and best to that end. ' ' 

He continues concerning impatience for results : " What shall 
we say in opposition to a proposed reform, which only desires in 
practice, to our own p?'ofessed principles ? Would it seem wise to 
tell such reformers as these that they are, like children, too im- 
patient of results ? 

" We of the reformed Church can now look back over a period 
of three centuries, during which our system, under substantially 
its present modifications, has been working out its results in var- 
ious quarters of the world and under every variety of circum- 
stances. It started w4th the whole — or nearly the whole — of the 
people of England and Wales in its bosom. At one time or 
other it has been dominant in Ireland and Scotland. It has had 
the aid of the Imperial Government, more or less, in some of these 
United States while they were colonies. 

" It has had that aid in every colony now linked to the mother 
country. It has had advantages of wealth, patronage, power, 
dignity, learning, exclusive control of the universities and schools. 
It has had the countenance of the noble and the great among a 
people that bows down to birth and blood. And none of all 
these advantages has been possessed in equal degree by any one, 
or by all put together, of all the sects which have sprung up un- 
der her shadow. All this preponderance of power has been on 
her side, in addition to the truth of God, the full authority of 
His Apostolic Church, and the everlasting presence of Christ 
which, according to His inviolable promise, she has never ceased 
to enjoy. Now, in this year of grace 1854, what accounts has 
the Church of England to give of the results of her stewardship? 
Scotland almost wholly Presbyterian. Ireland five-sixths Rom- 
ish, Presbyterian, and Unitarian. Wales so overrun with dissent 
that the Church is in a fearful minority. The Church outnum- 
bered, or out-generalled, or both, in nearly every colony over 
which the British ensign floats. In this country, the Church, al- 
most strangled in its cradle by the unprincipled policy of 
the mother country, has ever since been rendered weak and 
sluggish by inheriting those chronic diseases which so deeply 
taint the body whence it sprung. The Church of England, even 
at home, has lost more and more as time rolled on, until, from 
owning nearly the whole, she now retains but little more than 
half of the actively religious portion of her population. 

'' Results so steady, so constant, so universal, need some other 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 99 

cure than patience. Three hundred years is long enough. In 
three hundred years Christianity marched victorious from the 
manger of Bethlehem to the empire of the world. In three hun- 
dred years, England's Church has been more than outnumbered 
by the spawn of errorists that have crawled forth from her own 
loins. 

'' When the results are such as these, let those men be patient 
who can. We can 7iot. We have waited long enough. The time 
is come to see if we cannot do something better than patiently to 
go on repeating the same fatal blunders for three hundred years 
longer. 

' ' In the Providence of God, our Mother Church of Eng- 
land has been so closely united with the State that full, free, 
and independent action in regard to her own affairs has been 
wholly suspended during about one-half of the time since the Re- 
formation period. That adaptive power by which a living or- 
ganism so varies its condition in answer to varying circumstances, 
has been almost wholly paralyzed. The canonical frame- work 
of the Church of England is really as strange to this age as the 
city of Ephesus was to the wondering eyes of the Seven Sleepers 
on awaking from the unbroken repose of well-nigh two hundred 
years. 

''This sameness may seem to some minds like showing great 
' tenacity of purpose. ' 

" The great purpose of the Church should be to preach the 
Gospel to every creature, baptizing them into the new birth, and 
feeding them continually with the bread of the new life. And 
the sure result of a proper tenacity of purpose in this work is 
that God should add to the Church daily such as are being saved. 
But the Church will certainly fail, more or less, if she exalts sub- 
sidiary purposes to the level of that one great purpose, or suffers 
them to take precedence of them altogether. 

" This is precisely what the Church of England since the Re- 
formation has, to a large extent, done. She has been unable to 
stretch or adapt her working system in the slightest degree ; and 
hence every fresh development of life, energy, and zeal within her 
bosom has invariably resulted in excluding some of the very best 
working material from among her priests and people. 

'< This has been the case, too, with a practical toleration of doc- 
trinal differences surely as great as any reasonable man could de ■ 
sire. This toleration of doctrinal differences, moreover, detracts 
from the effect of the supposed ' tenacity of purpose ' in rejecting 



100 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

change, and reveals the simple truth that the Church has been 
ruled in this, her stand-still policy, not by tenacity of purpose, 
but by tenacity of practice — a very different thing. We are 
commended to Rome for an example of ' tenacity of purpose ' ; 
and rightly, for she exhibits a brilliant specimen of it. But what 
is her purpose of which she is tenacious ? Is it that all varieties 
of devotional feeling and religious temperament should be cofn- 
pelled into one monotonous and unvarying formula of expression ? 
Is it that offices which exist in her system should be smothered 
in practice ? Is it to discourage all sorts of voluntary associations 
of her children, who in one way or another are desirous to aid 
the Church in her work ? Is it to shrink from the probability 
of making rapid and extensive conquests from other Christian 
bodies, as if //^^/ were to be regarded as a terrible misfortune? 

'' No, none but Protestants so little value the power of the Unity 
of the One Body, as to let matters like these stand in her way. 
Is Roman tenacity always displayed in requiring the celibacy of 
the clergy ? Or Mass in Latin ? Or the inviolability of Church 
property ? Or a belief in Purgatory, Transubstantiation and In- 
dulgences? Or Communion in only one kind? Or complete 
independence in spirituals, to say nothing of temporals ? Or the 
existence of JNIonasteries ? Or the admission of Jesuits? Or 
the exclusion of the Bible ? Or the profession of the whole Tri- 
dentine Creed ? By no means ! None of all these is Rome's 
great purpose. That purpose is the subjugation of all the world 
under the obedie7ice of the Pope. Her tenacity she displays in 
making all other questions subo7'dinate to this. To secure the re- 
cognition of Papal supremacy she has been willing to allow the 
marriage of priests, communion in both kinds, and the usage of 
the ancient national liturgy to her converts from the Eastern 
Churches ; nor have they been required to profess a belief in 
purgatory, indulgences, transubstantiation, or the rest of the new 
Creed of Trent. In continental Europe the Papal assent has 
been given again and again to the suppression of monasteries ; to 
the wholesale confiscation of Church and conventual property ; 
to the reconstruction of episcopal sees and the nomination 
to ecclesiastical offices by the state ; and the publishing of 
no bull from Rome, even in spirituals, without the approbation 
of the civil government. She has tamely pocketed, at one time, 
insults and robberies which, at another, she would have resented 
with her most sonorous thunders. She has permitted, or con- 
nived at, and sometimes pretends to approve of, the reading 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. lOi 

of Holy Scripture in the vernacular by her people. She has sup- 
pressed the Jesuits, and submitted to their expulsion even from 
Rome itself. 

'' Rome is willing to tolerate almost every variety of instrument 
and ordinance, of rite and ceremony, that can co-operate to the 
one end. Her clergy are of every grade of intellect and refine- 
ment, from the hedge priest to the cardinal prince. Her rites 
are of every shade of simplicity and grandeur. So far is she from 
any objection to reviving things ancient which ma}^ be of present 
use, that she makes her chief boast of antiquity, and is yet ever 
ready to adopt any new device that may offer, or drop any an- 
cient usage which may have become superfluous. Voluntary so- 
cieties of every kind she permits, uses, cherishes, and multiplies. 
She finds room for the meditative silence of La Trappe, and work 
for the restless intrusiveness and wily intermeddlings of the Jesuit. 
She has the extemporary vigor of the revival system, in true 
Methodist style, with her Passionist and Redemptorist Missions, 
and the willing confessions of thousands of excited penitents. 
She has a constantly growing list of Brotherhoods, Sisterhoods, 
Confraternities, Sodalities, Conferences, and what not. Fresh 
converts, no matter if they come in crowds, she is never afraid 
of, but is ready to compass sea and land to make them. And in 
all the vast variety of her operations, her tenacity of purpose is 
only made the more brilliantly apparent by the very multitude of 
the forms in which it appears, and works, and wins. It is like 
the tiger, soft and glossy, lithe and springy, nothing rigid about 
the whole powerful organization — excepting only those great 
weapons of tenacity, the teeth, and the claws. 

'^ Now, this flexibility of practical system is utterly independent 
of doctrinal purity. It is not necessary, to secure freedom from 
superstition or error, that the Church should be made like the 
figure of a stuffed tiger, rigid all over, constantly showing its long 
white teeth and its protruding claws, but utterly unable to make 
any use of them, for want of flexibility in the rest of the system. 
We are strongly of opinion that there has been no organized se- 
cession from the Church which, by a judicious concession in- 
volving no yielding of principle, might not have been made from 
the first a most useful stimulus of increased life and strength in 
the Church ; rather than to be driven out, an indignant and vin- 
dictive enemy thirsting for war to the knife against an unnatural 
mother, who showed herself destitute of all feeling for her most 
earnest and laborious children. 



I02 A Champion of the Cross. [1868. 

' ' In the ages of chivalry the lance was the great knightly wea- 
pon, and required long and steady practice before it could be 
used with force and certainty of aim, from the back of a horse in 
full gallop. The knights practised themselves upon the figure of 
a Turk cut out of wood, turning on a perpendicular pivot, and 
having a heavy club in its hand. The whole was so arranged 
that, if struck on either side of the exact centre, the unlucky 
marksman, as he dashed by in full career, received a revolving 
rap from the Turk's club. 

' ' Now, Truth is very much like a wooden Turk ; and the popu- 
lar mind, borne on that swift but unsteady steed, the Spirit of 
the Age, is, as might be expected, very little likely to strike the 
centre the first time, or yet the second. It may consider itself 
very lucky if it finds that even ' the thij-d time is the charm.' 

'' The dilemma presented to the Chiu^ch has ever had these two 
sharp horns : on the one side, * Be not confoi-med to the world ' 
— ' the friejidship of the world is en7nity with God; ' and on the 
other, the plain duty of employing the wisdom of the serpent, 
and the apostolic example of being ' all things to all men,' that 
by any means ' she viiglit gain some.' The result of the proper 
balance of these opposite principles was that, while the Apostles 
and the Church were yet fiercely persecuted by the rulers of the 
Jews, '//^<? PEOPLE magnified them.' Indeed, the essential popu- 
larity of the Christian religion throughout its first and most 
wonderful three centuries of conquest, is one of the most indisput- 
able facts of history, as well as one of the most active causes of 
its rapid and complete success. 

' ' After her conquest of Paganism the Church was ready to be all 
things to all men in matters which did not affect the essentials of 
the faith ; and accordingly, whatever pleased the people was freely 
permitted and even encouraged all over Christendom. But by 
the sixteenth century it was evident that the compliance which 
at first was but the kindly condescension of the weak to the 
strong, had grown into far other and more fatal proportions. 
The Church had given away her spiritual lordship in order that 
she might pluck the temporal sceptre firom the hands of kings. 

^^Such was the result to the Church's first experiment in aim- 
ing at the mark of popularizing her services. Her lance struck 
too far to the right of the centre, and she herself w^as well-nigh 
felled to the ground by the inevitable recoil. 

" The Reformation has been a second trial of her skill. With 
the violent reaction natural to human kind, she has done her ut- 



i868.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 103 

most to rid herself of the dangers of that popular plasticity which 
had worked so much mischief. Her present practical system was 
not the result of popular clamor, and has never granted an addi- 
tional inch to any popular demands for increasing her standard 
modiacm. 

'' Apparently hopeless of expansion in the old direction, her 
natural and noiseless change has been to sink practically lower and 
lower down in the dignity and beauty of celebrating such services 
as she has retained ; thus impoverishing the remains of old 
energy, while coldly neglecting to provide any practicable out- 
let for the new. She has viewed t\it people, not as her natural 
allies, her favorite children, in whose hearts she reigned supreme ; 
but rather as secret and sullen foes, whose every additional desire 
was construed as an incipient rebellion, whose every yearning 
was to be choked down, whose every movement of spontaneous 
life was to be visited at once with the inexorable strait-waistcoat. 
One popular movement after another has convulsed England and 
England's Church, and at times it has seemed as if the day were 
lost beyond recovery ; but when the tide has turned the Church 
has reappeared from the midst of the chaos, in all her rigid fixity, 
not a rubric rubbed out, nor the fold of a surplice ruffled, as if 
an indomitable obstinacy of immobility were the highest and 
most glorious perfection of that which God ordained to be the 
Tabernacle of /tfe. 

' ' And what has been the result ? It took the Church more 
than fen centuries to feel the recoil of her first mistake. We can 
feel ours plainly enough at the end of three. Then she was full of 
popular superstitions : now she is empty with popular desertions. 
Then she was the centre of the life of the world : now she is like 
Art and Science, but one of the accidents of the world's life. 
Then she was decked in a gorgeousness which will be popular as 
long as human nature remains what it is : now her beauty is de- 
parted until she has no heart any longer for even the feast which 
she professes to provide for her people. Except when her con- 
gregations listen in silence to the musical performances in an 
organ loft, she r<?^^j- her cold praises with a monotonous, muffled, 
and melancholy response ; and preaches her prayers to unkneel- 
ing listeners, who condescend only a mumbled, or smothered, or 
a dumb Amen. And this, the general standard of her public 
worship, is proved by the listless, lazy lounging of too many of 
her great congregations to be no longer really, heai'tily popular, 
even among the bulk of her own people. 



I04 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1868. 

" Thus ends the second attempt of the Church's lance to touch 
the centre of truth in this matter. And she is yet suffering from 
the stunning deadness of the blow with which inexorable and 
impartial Truth ever punishes those who miss their mark. 

" But the evil, though great, must not be so exaggerated as to 
dishearten her children. x\nd there is about her now an abun- 
dance of the symptoms of an awakening to greater strength and 
wisdom than ever before. 

''High Church principles are very respectable principles, pro- 
vided men will only act them out. If the Church be the Ark 
in which is the salvation of the world, and if we be the Church, 
it is high time we cease to live as if the main business for which 
we were placed in the Ark were to see how many pretexts we 
could devise to keep other men out of it. If we have any faith 
whatever in our pretensions, let us rather see how many friendly 
hands we can reach out, on every side, to draw other men in. ' ' 

The offering to the General Convention of Dr. Muhlenberg's 
famous Memorial on the subject of reunion was the cause of the 
A\Titing of the series of leaders from which the last extracts have 
been made. It was no fault of either Dr. Muhlenberg, or of Mr. 
Hopkins and his associates, that the concessions to the sects 
which they proposed to make failed to meet the approval of the 
Church at large. The Church itself had not yet learnt how to 
use her own services with freedom and elasticity. Like the pro- 
posals of Bishop Hobart in 1826, they seemed admirable at first 
view, but on reflection they were rejected. But the spirit of 
those and similar proposals was taken and used afterward in the 
Church itself, and thus the freedom and stability of the Prayer 
Book worship were proved to meet all genuine needs in sectarian 
bodies. 



CHAPTER VII. 
1865-1866. 

True to its own feelings, the Low Church party felt the thrill 
of all the popular Protestant agitations. As the anti-slavery 
movement in the North grew stronger, so the feeling in all re- 
ligious bodies grew more and more intense. The abolition fever 
grew hotter and hotter as the fires were fed by the New England 
philanthropists. Long before the w^ar broke out, some of the Prot- 
estant sects were divided upon the point of the lawfulness of slave- 
holding in Christians. The virus of the wound to the Church's 
life was deeply felt among the Evangelicals. Yet before the 
war slavery issues were easily avoided, because the Low Church 
minority could not afford to divide its forces, and Massachusetts 
and South Carolina, Virginia and Ohio, were all in that minor- 
ity together. 

The General Convention met at Richmond in 1859, ^^ ^^^^ 
midst of the excitement caused by the John Brown raid at 
Harper's Ferry, and it was like the rising of a rainbow from the 
angry storm-clouds menacing the nation, to see one great body 
of Christians, many of whose laymen were in high places in the 
State, meeting in the centre of disturbance, and not so much as 
a word spoken in Convention that mentioned the obscene tumult 
raging all around. 

Four Bishops were consecrated at that meeting, and, so great 
was the popular interest in the Convention, it was at one time 
planned to have them consecrated in a great tent, to be erected 
in the Capitol Square ! 

The Church was, indeed, a haven of peace in those days, but 
when once the war had come the fever swept everything before it 
in the denominations, the Methodists going so far as to insert the 
oath of allegiance in their ordination service. The Low Church- 
men as a body went the same way ; and during the war Church 
interests were nothing to them in comparison with "■ saving the 
life of the nation." Hopkins never could see that splitting the 



io6 A CJiainpion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

Church with politics would strengthen the life of the nation. 
With unwavering confidence he anticipated the triumph of the 
United States and the eventful restoration of the old govern- 
ment, after a longer or shorter period of suffering and trouble. 
Accordingly he was unflinching in his determination to keep all 
political questions and issues out of the Church, as far as he 
could. By this time the Church Journal was altogether the most 
influential and best supported Church newspaper. It was quite 
the strongest utterance in the Church. If the faith of the Ro- 
mans in their final triumph in the second Punic war was shown 
in selling the very ground upon which Hannibal was encamped, 
surely some note of admiration should be sounded for those true- 
hearted American Churchmen, Evangelicals as well as High 
Churchmen who, in the midst of a storm of reproaches and up- 
braidings, persisted in believing that it was a sin to allow politi- 
cal agitations to enter the Church's councils. As citizens the 
Church taught her members their duty to their just rulers. 

They felt that armies might bring back the Southern States ; but 
the Church had no armies to operate in bringing back the South- 
ern Dioceses to the General Convention. If they came back at 
all, it must be of their own free will, as brothers returning to their 
own place, to be welcomed once more by brethren. 

The General Convention which met in 1862, the darkest time 
of the whole war for the North, saw the discussion of the whole 
question in all its bearing-s. The first introduction of the ques- 
tion was tabled by a majority of three to one in both Orders. 

But, unfortunately, the New York State election was near at 
hand, and Horatio Seymour, the Democratic candidate for 
Governor ' ' on the War Platform ' ' was a member of the House of 
Clerical and Lay Deputies, as a deputy from Western New York. 
The Democrats were loudly accused of insincerity in putting forth 
such a platform. In order to have a favorable effect on that im- 
portant election, the Democratic members of the House were more 
willing to do something than they would have been at any other 
time. The Republicans being clamorous for action, and the 
Democrats thus persuaded, the resolutions formerly tabled were 
sent to a large committee, which reported a series of resolutions 
which meant next to nothing. The debate lasted more than a 
week, hounded on by the daily press of both parties. In the 
House Dr. Mead and Dr. Hawks, the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, 
Dr. Mahan, and others resisted the effort to pass these resolutions, 
or to strengthen them, but at last the members of the House of 



1865-66.] Life of JoJiii Henry Hopkins. 107 

Bishops began to yield to the strong secular pressure, and the 
deputies, finding out how the current was setting, passed the mild 
resolutions by a very scanty majority. 

This was the highest political movement that rose in the 
Church. Loyalty was the great theme of all Protestant pulpits, 
and resolutions not worth the paper and ink were adopted all over 
the North ; but, except in the case of three or four dioceses, all 
similar manifestoes were voted down or tabled instanter on their 
introduction in the Church. 

When the war w^as ended the predominating secular interest 
was still rampant among the Evangelicals, and one of their organs 
demanded of the government that some of the leading Southern 
bishops and clergy should be hanged, on the ground that they 
had been leaders in the original movement for secession. 

The Southern Church has been set up because it was felt that 
ecclesiastical independence must go along with the civil indepen- 
dence claimed by the seceding States. 

When the war was ended it followed that ecclesiastical union 
must be restored also. Then it was that the value of the influ- 
ence of the Chiu'ch Journal was seen. Then it was made plain 
that in resisting political agitation that paper had been expressing 
the highest patriotism, and, in seeking to restore full relations 
with the Southern Churchmen, it had confounded all the counsels 
of bitterness and hatred so freely uttered by Low Churchmen. 
Some of the Southern bishops resumed their old places the very 
year of the close of the war, 1865, trusting, in the noble words of 
the Bishop of New York, ''to the love and honor of their 
brethren ; " the others came back not long after, and in less than 
a year after the war was over the Church was completely re- 
united. To no one man is that consummation due so much as to 
John Henry Hopkins. In his " Life of Bishop Hopkins," at the 
end of the chapter on the reunion of the Church (from which 
most of the above account has been gathered, though in piece- 
meal), he gives a letter to Bishop Hopkins from Bishop Elliott, of 
Georgia, "the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in the Southern Confederacy," wherein these lines 
occur, in congratulating him upon celebrating his golden wed- 
ding — "among those descendants stood my adopted son, John 
Henry, of whom I feel so proud, whose wise and judicious 
counsels have done more than almost any human means besides, 
to bring about the reunion of the children of God at the North 
and the South." 



io8 A Champion of tJie Cross. [1865-66. 

In writing of the attitude of the ChiircJi Jourjial 2,?> to the ex- 
pediency of the Chm-ch interfering with the affairs of the nation, 
it must be observed that personally Mr. Hopkins held to the 
opinions of the Bishops' Pastoral letter of 1862, and so expressed 
himself in the paper. And a side-light is thrown upon the mat- 
ter by the following leader written the week after the assassination 
of President Lincoln : 

" The happy Easter which we were anticipating last week has 
been horribly blurred with blood, shed by the hand of an as- 
sassin. The whole land was fluttering with flags on Good Friday, 
to be draped in universal mourning on Easter Day. Such over- 
whelming grief, such an overshadowing sorrow, this country has 
never known before. That so fearful and complicated a plot of 
political assassinations should have been deliberately formed, and 
so marvellously carried out, shows that demoralization has rotted 
down the national character more deeply than any of us dreamed 
of. It is a disgrace as well as a grief. 

" To-day, simultaneous services will be held over the whole 
land, while the funeral ceremonies of the murdered President are 
being celebrated in Washington : and there will be a depth and 
an earnestness in them far surpassing anything that has been 
known since the war began. 

"It is but natural, and yet it is most saddening to see, 
that this detestable crime has interrupted, with a sudden black 
cloud, the sunshine of good-will that was beginning to gleam 
forth warmly and cheerily all over the North, ushering in appar- 
ently an era of good feeling, which was encouraged by signs of 
corresponding reaction at the South. Now all is dark again. No 
greater misfortune to that unhappy part of our country could have 
happened at this time, than the murder of President Lincoln. 

"Political assassination only consecrates in the hearts of a 
nation the cause which is thus foully attacked. And there could 
be no greater proof of the safety of the life of the nation, than 
that, in the face of so startling a calamity, the reins of power 
passed at once to the legal hands, without a shock or even a rip- 
ple of disturbance or doubt. May the Providence of God bring 
good out of evil ! ' ' 

One incident of the later years of this war may be of interest 
for the bearing it has upon objects dear to John Henry Hopkins. 
Napoleon III. was maintaining the hopeless Maximilian as Em- 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 109 

peror of Mexico, and the presence of French troops under Ba- 
zaine was felt to be a covert menace to our Government, just 
beginning, at the cost of enormous sums of money and of more 
precious lives, to have hopes of a favorable ending of the war. 
But the administration had its hands full, and could only warn in 
a diplomatic way the French Government of the meaning of their 
acts in Mexico. . To the immense honor of Russia it should be 
remembered that Alexander II., in this hour of our national peril, 
when England was barely maintaining officially a cold neutrality 
while expressing openly the warmest sympathy with the Southern 
cause, and the French Emperor was waiting but for an unfavor- 
able turn to our affairs, sent a squadron to New York, and thus 
gave us his moral support. 

The Russian chaplains of the ships of war were cordially re- 
ceived by the Bishop of New York, and with his full consent and 
approval they repeatedly celebrated the Sclavonic Liturgy in 
Trinity Chapel. 

This caused a great sensation in religious circles, and gave 
umbrage anew to the Low Churchmen, who were just then on fire 
with the idea of exchanging pulpits with the " evangelical de- 
nominations. ' ' 

The music of the Russian choir quite enraptured Hopkins. 
Of it he used to quote Mahan's words describing the music at 
the Russo-Greek Chapel in Paris — '' O how lovely ! To hear that 
sweet and earnest Litany, becoming more and more intense at 
every repetition, and seeming at times to be battering the gates 
of heaven, the angels the meanwhile answering from within the 
closed doors of the sanctuary, it beats all Western uses beyond 
comparison ! ' ' He transcribed the Russian Litany and set it to 
the words of our English Litany. It is far sweeter and more 
beautiful than the Tallis setting to which the Litany is usually 
sung, and not too difficult for any ordinary choir. 

The last years of Hopkins' connection with the Church 
four?ial saw the culmination of its influence. Whether it would 
have kept its place as leader of the journals of the Church if the 
alarm over the rise of " Ritualism " had not arisen it is idle to 
speculate. 

The year 1867 saw victory for the advocates of the division 
of the Diocese of New York, after a steady fight on his part for 
eight years. In 1868 he sold the paper in order to give himself 
up to writing the life of Bishop Hopkins, and to save his eye- 
sight, seriously weakened by overwork. 



no A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

The close of the rebellion saw the actual formation of a " Ritual- 
istic parish ' ' in New York. Such churches had been in existence 
some years before that date in England. There they had been 
called for by laymen. The ground lay a little differently here, and 
accordingly they did not appear quite so soon in America. But 
they had been expected. Long before Ritualism showed itself 
here the Evangelicals had dubbed the modest revived use of the 
surplice in the pulpit as a ritualistic abomination. The eastward 
position of the celebrant at the altar, to this day a matter of strife 
in England, and really the key to the whole position of the Cath- 
olic school as to ceremonial, had been adopted and used even by 
Evangelicals. Hopkins had for years advocated the full revival of 
the Reformation ornaments and ceremonial, and so he was ready 
for them too, and, of course, an unflinching supporter of the men 
who adopted them. And yet, he was never, in the vulgar sense of 
the word, a Ritualist. For one thing, he was a deacon, and had 
no rights over ceremonial in any church, and he naturally, as 
every gentleman will do, followed the customs of the parish 
priest. He used to say, '' I am not really a Rituahst ; I am a 
Catholic ; but as long as the word is used as a term of reproach 
of other men, better than I am, I will never disown it." To 
the end of his days as a parish priest his services were the old- 
fashioned "full morning service." In his church at Williams- 
port he introduced the weekly and feast day celebrations, which 
he always ministered fasting. At them he wore only the surplice 
and stole, ''taking the eastward position," elevating both the 
paten and the chalice at the consecration, and inclining pro- 
foundly after consecrating each kind, and by his whole bearing 
seemed, especially after consecration, in a sort of ecstasy of devo- 
tion and adoration.^ He used to do what is so often read of, 
but seldom seen, bow his head reverently at the holy name of 
Jesics wherever it occurs. The newer Ritualists content them- 
selves with turning to the east in the creed, and do not bow at all ! 

The first apparent result of the ritualistic innovations at St. 
Alban's was a terrible panic. The Evangelicals were frightened 
as a matter of course, and advertised the horrors by every device 
in their power. Ritualists were more and less than conspirators, 

* Let this writer for once speak in his own person, and say that I have 
seen the greater number of the best known ritualistic churches and their 
clergy, as well as many others, and I have never seen any man who so im- 
pressed me with a sense of his profound reverence for the House of God, 
the sacred altar, and above all, the Blessed Sacrament ! 



1865-66.] Life of Jolm Henry Hopkins. in 

and Jesuits, they were mice, and beasts, and devils ; and their 
churches were menageries, as deadly as hell. Many, too, of the 
leaders of the advancing wing of the High Church side were 
swept into line with the Evangelicals. The battle changed front 
instantly, and all the heavy artillery was brought to bear ujoon 
the common ritualistic enemy. 

And yet the panic was as senseless as it was wide-spread. 
The exact changes in the manner of conducting the services had 
been advocated on various grounds by some of the men who 
were loudest in their denunciation of them when once they 
saw them. Furthermore they had not been made lightly or 
carelessly. In England the Judges Spiritual had pronounced the 
use of all the ornaments of the second year of Edward VL to be 
lawful, in the case of Westerton v. Liddell. It is true that since 
the lawfulness of those ornaments had not been at issue then 
their favorable judgment on that point was afterward declared to 
be a mere obiter dictum, but, notwithstanding, it was felt that 
for introducing them in the modern English Church there was 
abundant authority. And here in America their lawfulness had 
been conceded before they were brought into prominent use. 
The rector of the new church was no imaginative, romantic 
priestling, but a man of strong, clear, and cold and dry brain, 
rigid and unbending in his adherence to a rather narrow Anglican 
standard, and he was assisted by a young priest of great spirit- 
uality and deep piety. But all such considerations went for 
nothing, if they were noticed at all. 

The Evangelicals tried harder than ever to bring such force to 
bear against the whole High Church life as to effect an entrance 
for their pet idea of free exchange of ministrations with '■'• other 
evangelical denominations. ' ' 

Different clergymen '^ exchanged pulpits " with ministers, buf 
did not draw out any effectual answer, until one of them invad- 
ed the parish of a priest in New Jersey, and preached against his 
will in a Methodist Church. 

For this infraction of a positive canon he was tried by his 
own Diocesan, and publicly reprimanded. This punishment, 
which hardly arose to the dignity of " persecution," sufficed to 
reveal the clear purpose of churchmen that the canons were not 
to be wantonly broken into shivers, made them hot with anger and 
shame. They determined to do still more. It was a pity, in- 
deed, that when High Churchmen could live up to the Prayer- 
book they could not in peace bring it into open contempt. Still, 



112 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

their efforts in that particular were so plainly opposed to the 
law, which they yet professed to love to follow, that but a few of 
them ventured, from whatever reason, to keep up that movement. 
One of their leaders let a phrase slip from him which Hopkins 
seized upon as a cat jumps on a mouse, and made it yield a vast 
amount of fun under his skilful treatment. T\vq funny part of 
his leader is given here ; more than three times as much, not in 
the least degree amusing, followed originally. 

''The 'Huckleberry-Pudding Business.' — Dr. T , in 

his reply to the Pastoral of the Bishop of New York, says that 
the pamphlet was read by him to ' the Clerical Association of 
the Protestant Episcopal Church,' previous to its publication. 
But we have been informed, by one who claims to have it on 
good authority, that on introducing the subject, before reading 

his manuscript. Dr. T said : ' Now, brethren, you know that 

I don' t like this huckleberrypudding business myself : but I have 
written this to defend the enlarged interpretation of the canons, 
and for the sake of others.' The story is a very good one, and 
carries probabihty on the face of it. It has the crisp, clear, and 

spicy flavor of Dr. T 's mind. It expresses very adequately 

the real contempt with which this practical amalgamation with 
outsiders is regarded by a great majority of the Low Churchmen 
themselves. And it is in tolerably close consistency with Dr. 

T 's own past career : for, no matter what queer things he 

may have said or done on various platforms and in sundry and 

divers meeting-houses. Dr. T has never, we believe, felt that 

there was any ' moral emergency ' for asking a Presbyterian or 
a Methodist minister ijito his pulpit, to preach to his people. 
Therefore the story is a good story — a very reasonable and credi- 
ble story. Si non e vero, e ben trovato. 

" We heartily thank Dr. T for the phrases thus happily 

coined by him. It is much better than any that we could have 
hit on for ourselves. The satire is rather broader, indeed, than 
we should have thought to be in good taste. Excepting for the 
authentic information on which we receive the story, we should 
have felt bound to discuss au grand serieux the question of the 
replies to the Pastoral. We should have thought it unseason- 
able to treat with even deserved ridicule a controversy in which 
the parties who pour out long pamphlet after long pamphlet are 
apparently in such dead earnest. But when we find the chief- 
tain and leader of the responsive pamphleteers, whose face is so 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 113 

sober and stern to the public, cracking such a good joke upon 
his own friends in private, our sense of propriety relaxes, and we 
feel perfectly justified in being sensible rather than serious. The 

phrase is an uncommonly good phrase, even for Dr. T . 

And it will not be our fault if it does not stick. 

"But what has 'Huckleberry-pudding' got to do with the 
recognition of non-Episcopal ministers ? The spirit of symbol- 
ism — which is so much derided by our Evangelical friends, but 
by which they are so constantly animated without their know- 
ing it — will reveal to us a depth of meaning in this well-chosen 
epithet. 

" Huckleberries are fruits of nature, and not of cultivation: 
they are therefore fit types of the non-Episcopal denominations, 
which have indeed many good and pleasant and juicy things 
about them ; but — as denominations — they are the work of nat- 
ure, not of grace. 

" The dough which embraces the huckleberries in the making 
of the pudding, symbolizes our Low Church friends, who so 
lovingly embrace these denominations on the ground of ministe- 
rial equality. The dough is not a w^ork of nature, and those 
brethren are undoubtedly members of the true Church, children 
of grace, and leavened with the leaven of righteousness in many 
notable respects. 

''But the dough has its chief significance from its unfinished 
and very pliable condition, and from its accepted meaning as in- 
dicating those who are ever ready to yield their position just 
when they ought to maintain it, and are eager to ' compro- 
mise ' the very principles which it is their special duty to de- 
fend — ' dough-faces ' is the well-known political term ; and 

the happy epithet of Dr. T transfers it, with much greater 

fitness, to the field of ecclesiastical politics. 

' ' But this is not all. The ' huckleberries ' may be lovingly 
embraced by the 'dough,' yet the 'pudding' is not com- 
plete until both parties, thus united, have been plunged into hot 
water, and kept there a long time — a process so perfectly cor- 
responding to all past ecclesiastical experience on the subject as 
to need no further elucidation. 

" The eating furnishes fresh shades of meaning. ' Huckleberry- 
pudding ' is rather a poor dish. The huckleberries are certainly 
spoiled ; and the dough is very doughy still. The only thing 
that makes it go down is the sauce — which is furnished from the 
' Strong Church ' side of the house, and is compounded of 



1 14 A Champion of the Cross, [1865-66. 

sugar, the sweetness of gentle Charity; and butter, the smooth- 
ness of good-natured forbearance ; and cinnamon and spice, 
which are the wit and humor that always give a pleasant flavor 
to the controversy from their side of the question. But even 
with plenty of sauce, it is a dangerous dish, and damaging to 
one's good looks. It stains the tongue ; it stains the teeth ; and 
— if one be not an uncommonly nice feeder — it stains even the 
lips to such a degree that it makes a man look as if he had kissed 
his laundress's indigo bag. Everybody can see the effect of it, 
even afar off; and everybody that meets such a man on the 
street, greets him with, ' So you've been eating huckleberry 
pudding, have you ? ' This part of the experience symbolizes 
the general blackening that a man is likely to get from the 
' huckleberry - pudding business,' and the rather ridiculous 
notoriety that it is likely to give him for a long while after ; for it 
is always sure to get into the papers, and be copied even into 
those that are published afar off", and everybody has his laugh at 
the expense of those who have been so free with the ' huckle- 
berry-pudding. ' It is a remarkable thing, moreover, that this 
ugly staining quality is developed in huckleberries only by the 
'pudding business.' In their natural uncombined and un- 
boiled condition, there is no nicer berry growing, and one may 
eat his fill of them, yet they leave no stain at all. Thus, too, 
the proper intercourse with our brethren of the denominations 
in their natural condition — in things benevolent, social, literary, 
scientific, political, and what not — is very pleasant and juicy, 
fresh-flavored and good, and hurts nobody. It is only an im- 
proper mixture in things ecclesiastical that brings out the power 
to stain'' 

It cannot be doubted that such articles, for all their air of 
pleasantry, were most exasperating. Not to take their most 
earnest attacks as if they were of any moment was of all things 
most likely to arouse the resentment of the struggling Evangel- 
icals. It was quite another thing when Hopkins attempted to 
meet the cross-fire of the old High Churchmen. 

It may not be apart from the story to see how he regarded the 
ritualistic movement. It may be questioned whether he ever 
planned just such use as was made of the principle he contended 
for, when he wrote about elasticity and flexibility in the services, 
and about popularizing them. But the ritual, or to speak more 
correctly, the ceremonial development rose naturally from the 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 115 

Prayer-book, and although it could not be associated so fully as 
it was in England with charitable and philanthropic work, yet it 
was, in setting forth the rich beauty of the Prayer-book services, 
truly a powerful missionary agency, and rather the more so be- 
cause it was the corporate manifestation of a piety which had too 
carefully hidden itself in a sort of shamefaced dread of expression. 
Hopkins never followed it out in his own practice. He was in 
his ways more like the early Tractarians, very gentle and con- 
siderate with others, strict and stern in the discipline of self. He 
taught the old Evangelical Catholic doctrines of the inspiration 
and authority of Scripture, the Atonement through the Incar- 
nation, the doctrines of the aversion of the race from God, and 
of its helplessness apart from grace, the need of repentance, 
and, in brief, all the doctrines of redemption as they have always 
been taught in the Catholic Church in all its branches. He 
kept the fasts of the Church with exactness and severity. His 
fasts were fasts from meat and drink, and not a mere substitution 
of one meat for another ; although, indeed, his ordinary table 
was plainer and scantier than that of any Religioits House known 
by experience to the writer. But he defended the Ritualists, and 
battled manfully for all their rights, with more ardor than if he 
were writing for his own benefit. He always said he wanted the 
extremes of Church liberty as far apart as possible, in order that 
true comprehensiveness and freedom might pervade the Church, 
so that all the good, which in the sects could only be found by go- 
ing through them all, might be enjoyed in her in solidarity. He 
held that all this variety of ceremonial hurts no one, but is a grad- 
ual growth toward something better. What then was the princi- 
ple upon which he built his support of the advanced movement ? 

It was thus expressed by him at a later period : '' When our 
American branch of the Catholic Church was organized there 
was an unreasonable fear and jealousy of the tyrannical power of 
bishops. . . . The entire earlier generation of our American 
bishops felt and acknowledged the essential position of their 
Order in this country to be constitutional : they were not to be ar- 
bitrary rulers whose law was their own discretion. . . . There 
are some things allowed or required to be done by our American 
Church legislation. There is no question in regard to these. 

"' There are some things cyL^r^sAy forbidden ; there is no ques- 
tion in regard to these. The whole difficulty arises in regard to 
the almost innumerable points in which our American Church 
legislation has said nothing. Now the old and original theory of 



ii6 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

American Churchmen is that ' where there is no law there is no 
transgression.' The Church of England from the time of the 
Reformation has been doing her work under the shackles of Acts 
of Uniformity, which have been reinforced by a sort of oral tra- 
dition that there must be uniformity in public worship : and so 
there must be some law, by which any one who introduces singu- 
larities may be effectively and summarily put down. When this 
uneasy traditional feeling is brought face to face with the simple 
fact that in many branches of ecclesiastical affairs, the American 
Church, as far as her own constitution and canons are con- 
cerned, has no written law whatsoever. 

" Let us look at two sorts of law, and distinguish them clearly. 
Our American constitution and canons are clothed with coer- 
cive force beyond question. But is the case altogether the same 
with us in regard to the English canons ? [The American 
Bishops declared in 1808 that the English Table of Prohibited 
Degrees was obligatory on this Church.] So that what the Eng- 
lish canon forbids as incestuous the American Church forbids as 
incestuous. But is there a single diocese in which that law has 
ever been enforced as Church law ? So that the only conclusion 
is this, that unquestioned coercive force is to be attributed only 
to our American constitution and canons : that coercion based 
only on English canon law will not work. A strong argument 
may be based on the binding force of the ancient canons of the 
(Ecumenical Church — whenever any diocese or Church court 
shall think fit to enforce them. Being oecumenical, they do not 
need re-enactment to be binding. But the probability of a fair 
and equitable execution of these canons, by bishops, some of 
whom have been twice or thrice married, is too remote to be 
worth discussion. If coercive force cannot be regarded as cloth- 
ing the oecumenical canons, then much less does it clothe the 
English canons, as such : and if it does not clothe either of these 
it certainly does not clothe any other legislation whatsoever out- 
side of our own written American Church legislation. 
The whole ritualistic controversy in England may be said to 
rest upon the Ornaments Rubric oi 1662. Now, the Puritanical 
party refused to wear even the surplice. And on the organiza- 
tion of the American Church the Puritanical feeling was so 
strong and the Church feeling so weak, that it was resolved 
to make clean work of this whole business of coercion touching 
vestments. The entire Ornaments Rubric, which gave the 
maximum [of that which was allowable and which meant the full 



i86s-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 117 

system of vestments and ornaments in use at the beginning of the 
reign of Edward VI.], was struck out. Not a syllable was left 
behind. And when they came to canons, the minimum, the 
'■ comely surplice with sleeves,' was struck out also. There was 
not a particle of American law left by which any bishop could 
coerce a Low Churchman into wearing anything besides his citi- 
zen's dress. The only exceptions were the rubrics requiring the 
candidates for Deacons' and Priests' Orders to be at the time of 
ordination ' decently habited ' ; and the mention also of the 
' rochet,' and ' the rest of the Episcopal habit,' in the Order for 
the Consecration of a Bishop. All coercive law (with these ex- 
ceptions) on the subject of vestments was wiped out. To make 
assurance doubly sure, in the vow of canonical obedience the 
words are, ' Will you reverently obey your Bishop, and other 
chief Ministers, who, according to the Cajio?is of the Church, may 
have the charge and government over you, etc. ? ' If the bishop 
wishes obedience under that vow he must point to the canon 
which gives him express authority to act. So, too, as to build- 
ings and furniture and arrangements. The English Rubric, 
'the chancels shall remain as they have done in times past,' 
which has been the law since the reign of Edward VI., and 
proves that the chancels were to remain after the Reformation 
the same that they did before, has no coercive force with us at all. 
But, though we cannot be compelled to follow it if we do not 
choose so to do, there is nothing to prevent our making that our 
guide if we have a mind to do so. Thus it is entirely open to 
our priests and parishes to follow every minute detail of English 
architecture, arrangement, ritual, adornment, and what not, if 
they like. If, on the contrary, they don't like any such thing, 
and prefer to build a church in the style and arrangement of a 
theatre, or a pagan temple, there is no law to prevent them. In 
the same way, whenever our American book has omitted any- 
thing, without prohibiting what is thus omitted, the difference 
between our people and the English is this : the English can be 
compelled to comply with the requirement, and we cannot ; but 
we are free to comply with it if we please. The English clergy- 
man can be compelled to wear a surplice during the celebration 
of public worship. Our clergy cannot be so compelled. But 
our clergy are free to wear the surplice if they please ; and al- 
most unanimously they do so please. 

' ' Now this liberty of ritual is peculiarly in harmony with the 
characteristics of this American people. It is a necessary element 



ii8 A Champion of tJie Cross. [1865-66. 

in giving flexibility to the Church system so that it may more 
readily work its way in a country cursed with a greater variety of 
sects and religions than any other country in the world. . . . 
It is strange how hard it is for some amiable people to under- 
stand, that liberty means to do as we please, and not as somebody 
else pleases. The propriety, or prudence, or usefulness, of any 
innovation is not the question here. If a clergyman introduces, 
unwisely, what his people do not understand, or appreciate, or 
what they positively dislike or disapprove, he will soon find out 
that they are as free as he is. That is, at present, all the restric- 
tive legislation we need on the subject." Continuing, Mr. 
Hopkins wrote upon the contention that •'' the bishop is author- 
ity upon all questions of interpretation of a rubric." *' Suppose 
there is no rubric to interpret ? If the rubric prescribing the 
vestments of the second year of Edward VI. is omitted, we are 
told : ' Omission is prohibition — you are prohibited from wear- 
.ing those vestments.' Very well. Here we come to another 
omission. The command to go to the Bishop of the Diocese 
whose discretion shall appease all doubts concerning the meaning 
of the rubrics, has also been omitted. ' Omission is prohibition ' : 
therefore all who are in doubt as to the meaning of a rubric are 
prohibited from going to the Bishop to resolve it, and he is pro- 
hibited from exercising his discretion in any such matter. . . . 
What we object to is that the power to advise should be inter- 
preted to mean the power to command. 

''There is another branch of this business — Diocesan legislation. 
In asking it is a confession that there is no coercive law in it at 
all. And next, all diocesan canons on the subject of ritual are 
not worth the paper they are written on. The only binding legis- 
lation is by rubric in the Book of Common Prayer, requiring 
the approval of two consecutive General Conventions. In secur- 
ing stability of liberty of ritual in public worship by the consti- 
tutional provision that no change can be made short of two Gen- 
eral Conventions, our fathers were not quite so stupid as to leave 
it at the same time in the power of every Diocesan Convention 
to make fresh changes every year." 

This article on ' ' Constitutional Law ' ' was not written till late 
in the year 1874, but he had made use of the same principle in 
a more concrete form in 1867, in a series of leaders entitled '' The 
Blank Cartridge." 

But at first he took but little notice of St. Alban's Church. He 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 119 

was very far from glorifying it, and, indeed, beyond mentioning 
it as an item of news when the new services were begun, he took it 
very much as a matter of course. Some one from the South wrote 
to ask him ^' What is RituaHsm ? " and he gave the answer, thus : 

*^ As the heavenly bodies move in elliptical orbits, and are con- 
stantly drawing nearer to or retiring from the objects from which 
their distance is measured; and as the movement of the world's 
education, though ever onward, is oscillatory in its mode of pro- 
gression, and none but a fool will suppose that the clock goes for- 
ward only when the pendulum swings to the right, and goes back- 
ward whenever the pendulum swings to the left : so is it also with 
movements within the Church of God, or within the sphere of 
things spiritual considered on a large scale. And if we would 
understand fully the meaning of our present position, if we would 
estimate aright the motion of the pendulum in its present swing 
before our eyes, we must go back and take our measure on a 
somewhat extended scale. 

' ' The accumulated abuses and corruptions of the Dark Ages, the 
horrors of Papal massacres and persecutions, and the incalculable 
miseries of the wars of religion which accompanied and followed 
the necessity of the Reformation, all intensified by the dread of 
the Jesuits and the mischiefs wrought by their subtle and marvel- 
lously powerful system, led to a steady intensification of the 
spirit of Protestantism on the one side, and to a similar decay of 
all true religion on the other, until the sceptical, worldly, and 
deistical tone of the last century reached its coldest stage among 
Protestants, and among Romanists culminated in the incompar- 
ably worse excesses of the French Revolution. 

'' In the Church of England, the Wesleys may be said to have 
begun the reaction toward better things, and the Evangelical 
party within the Church at length took it up and carried it on. 
The Oxford movement was, logically, the next step of returning 
life, keeping everything of Evangelical truth that had been 
gained, and going onward to revive other important truths that 
had also been suffered to decay. And, as the Evangelical move- 
ment did not need to invent or import into the Prayer-book and 
Articles the essential doctrines of Gospel truth, so the Oxford 
party were equally free from any such necessity. In both cases 
it was a work of revival merely ; revival of what was there, and 
had been there all along, but which had merely fallen for a long 
time into practical disuse. 



120 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

*' The whole Oxford movement, therefore, was developed out of 
the Prayer-book and the other standards, and the well-known 
history, of the Church of England. When this was complete as 
to doctrine, and when the revival of Church architecture and 
Church adornment proved that the hearts of the people were ripe 
for it, the same great principle was carried one step further, and 
the Rubrical Law of the Church of England is now being re- 
vived as carefully as the once neglected doctrines of the Gospel, 
and the once forgotten theory and doctrine of the Church. This 
rubrical law concerns the outward and visible embodiment or 
teaching of the doctrine of the Church, the mode of celebrating 
Divine Service and administering the Sacraments and Ordinances 
of the Catholic Church, and especially concerns itself with the 
Holy Eucharist as the highest act of Christian worship, the chief 
and transcendent means of the Real Presence of our adorable 
Saviour among His people on earth. 

'' The majestic and triumphant march of this glorious Church 
revival has not been wholly confined to our own communion. 
On the Continent of Europe it has found a response in a strong 
revival of ancient life among the Lutherans of Germany, a por- 
tion of whom once more teach the high sacramental doctrines of 
their founder ; and also among the Romish churches, where 
there is a strong, earnest, and growing party, who are struggling 
to become true Catholics, and are steadily working their way 
toward us, as we are toward them. In the Oriental Commun- 
ions, also, while there is no sign of their yielding an inch to Papal 
assumptions, dogmas, or t>Tanny, yet there is a manifest drawing 
toward us, as we are feeling our way toward them, with all the' 
hope and love that spring necessarily from a conscious Catholic 
brotherhood in Christ. 

'' Nor has the movement been unfelt among the Protestant de- 
nominations in England and in this country. Some of our 
readers may remember a series of articles on the drift toward our 
Church, which has been visible among the denominations in 
many things for many years past. It has been seen in their 
mode of conducting worship, in the changed style of their relig- 
ious edifices, in the efforts to procure liturgies of their own, in 
their adopting more or less of Church hymns and Church ways, 
in gradually but rapidly resuming the observance of Christmas, 
Good Friday, and Easter Day, and such like : and it is going on 
now more rapidly than ever. 

'' Now a movement is something that keeps moving. Those 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 121 

who begin it, generally think it ought to stop at the first stage, 
and are frightened if not hurt when the second generation of 
thinkers and movers wishes to go further. And these second 
commonly feel the same toward the third : for individual men are 
almost invariably more or less narrow or illogical ; while the great 
movements of God's work in the world go on, thi'ough par- 
ticular men at the first, over them whenever it may become 
necessary. 

'' ' Ritualism ' is the name at present given to this great Church 
movement of our age, wherever it is felt outside of the Oriental 
and Roman communions. At first it was called Oxfordism, or 
Puseyism ; then Tractarianism ; now Ritualism ; at all tijnes it 
has been denounced as Romanism, or Sertii-Romanism, or Ro- 
manizing, or Low Popery, or Popery in disguise, or some such 
thing — all these varieties of abuse having been used so long, so 
loudly, and so lavishly, that nobody minds them any more. This 
charging of ' tendencies,' and ' directions ' of movement, is now 
seen to be the idlest business in the world. A man who is walk- 
ing down Broadway is walking ' in the direction ' of New York 
Bay, and every step he takes has a ' tendency ' to carry him into 
salt water where he may be drowned : and that will certainly be 
his fate — if he don't stop before he gets there. Sometimes, some 
poor wretch plunges in, and seeks to shuffle ofi" the troubles of a 
world of which he knows but little, by entering unbidden that 
other world, of the horrors of which he knows comparatively 
nothing. But to make the few such incidents the excuse for 
stopping all who are found walking down Broadway, and turn- 
ing them all round and making them walk up Broadway, for fear 
they should walk into the Bay and get drowned, would be a 
course precisely as sensible as that pursued by Protestants in gen- 
eral in regard to the Church movement : and that is the reason 
why they, and their mode of argument, and their loud alarums 
about ' Popery ' and Popish ' tendencies,' have sunk into such 
utter insignificance and contempt. 

^' With these very general remarks, nobody can be in any 
doubt as to what ' Ritualism ' is. In an ' Independent ' Bethel, 
if the minister begins to wear a black silk gown instead of a 
dress coat, it is 'Ritualism.' In a Presbyterian congregation, 
the introduction of chanting is ' Ritualism.' Among the Dutch 
Reformed, the observance of Lent is a ' Ritualistic abomina- 
tion.' Among the German Reformed, the new Liturgy which 
is framed upon the altar idea rather than the pulpit idea, is 



122 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66 

loudly denounced by its opponents as 'Ritualistic' In one 
of our own parishes, which heretofore has had the three-decker 
arrangement, it is ' Ritualism ' to build out a distinct and prop- 
erly arranged chancel. Where there has been a table with legs, 
it is ' Ritualism ' to put an Altar in place of it (though S. 
Paul's Chapel in this city has had a proper Altar ever since 
before the American Revolution). Where the Altar has been 
bare, it is ' Ritualism ' to cover it with an Altar-cloth. Where 
they have had only one Altar-cloth, it is ' Ritualism ' to add 
one or two more of different colors. Where they have been 
preaching in the black gown, it is ' Ritualism ' to preach in 
the surplice. Where they have been preaching in the surplice 
and black stole, it 'is ' Ritualism ' to introduce colored vest- 
ments or even a colored stole. Where they have not been 
used to it, it is ' Ritualism ' to bow at the Sacred Name in the 
Creed. Where they have been used to bow only in the Creed, 
it is ' Ritualism ' to do it in the Gloria ifi Excelsis or on any 
other occasion. In some parishes it is ' Ritualism ' to have can- 
dlesticks on the Altar, even if the candles are not lighted. In 
others it is not ' Ritualism ' to have them, but \\. is ' Ritualism ' 
to light them, unless it be too dark to see to read without them. 
In some parishes it is ' Ritualistic ' to sing the Aniens ; in others 
even the full choral service is not ' Ritualism.' Thus we might 
go on, almost ad infinitum. But one short summary covers the 
whole — Anything, in any particular parish, no matter how 
slight, that indicates any movement toward an increase of Church- 
liness — that is to say, an increase in the beauty, dignity, edifica- 
tion, or attractiveness, of pubhc worship, especially if it tend 
to show increasing honor to our Blessed Lord or the Sacrament 
of His precious Body and Blood — is Ritualistic : and most clearly, 
if it be something which you don't happen to fancy yourself. 
Anything which assumes that we American Episcopalians have 
' already apprehended,' and are perfect in our mode of doing 
things, and that our Lord and His service ought 7iot to receive 
any more of time, care, money, and loving reverence than we 
give them now, and that every parish ought to be crystallized 
into permanence just where it is at present, every alteration be- 
ing 7iecessarily a change for the worse : all such persons will join 
the cry against ' Ritualism,' and we shall know exactly what 
they mean by it. 

'' W^e hope we have succeeded in making our answer intelligi- 
ble in all latitudes and longitudes," 



1865-66.] Life of Jo Jin Henry Hopkins. 1 23 

He went on to ask ''do the people like it?" and he traced 
the outline of the development of Church life, in this way : 

''It is loudly affirmed that any increase in Ritualism is utterly 
foreign to the tastes of the Anglo-Saxon race in general, and of 
the American people in particular. And there is a certain 
amount of foundation for it, in the opposition with which any 
movement in that direction is sure to be greeted from several 
quarters. The older people who have been bred up in the pres- 
ent general style of doing things are opposed. The older clergy 
are generally opposed. The bishops are for the most part op- 
posed. Therefore there is sure to be an outcry over every detail 
of improvement, however small. Old-fashioned High Church- 
men (that is, the great bulk of that party), the whole of the Low 
Church, and all the Protestant denominations in a body, are 
ranged in loud and open — even abusive — opposition. And 
Rome likes it least of all. She tries to make capital out of it in- 
deed, and clamorously insists that it indicates a wholesale move- 
ment toward the Papal communion ; and in making this claim, 
all the Protestant opponents play straight into the hands of the 
Romanists, reiterating precisely the same charge, at the top of 
their voices, all the while. Yet Rome really dislikes the move- 
ment, knowing that it \n\V\. prevent many persons from resorting 
to her fold. She knows that where she makes one convert on 
doctrinal grounds, she makes ten on grounds of aesthetics, of feel- 
ing, of impression, and of yearning for something that touches a 
greater number of points in the complex nature of man. The 
drier and duller and more cheerless our practical system is, 
therefore, the more surely will Rome glean a great many loose or 
dissatisfied people from among us. While the more attractive, 
the more effective, the more interesting, our services are, the less 
is she hkely to win. All that is left to her, therefore, is, so to 
speak of the movement from the outside as to increase the suspi- 
cion against it inside, and thus if possible choke it off entirely, or 
so disgust and dishearten those who are engaged in it that they 
may give up the battle and go over to her, in despair of main- 
taining a truly CathoHc position in the ' Protestant Episcopal 
Denomination.' 

" Now we ask sensible people to say what they can make of 
the/^^/, that, in spite of this tremendous preponderance of oppo- 
sition from within and from without, the Church movement — 
though led by so few — has steadily won every battle it has fought 



124 ^ Champion of tJie Cross. [1865-66. 

for the past tliirty years ? Gothic architecture, stained-glass 
windows, deep chancels, the removal of the old three-decker ar- 
rangement, the revival of the more ancient patterns in vessels of 
the Altar, large stone fonts, the placing of the font by the door, 
the use of flowers on high festivals, the ' image ' of the Cross 
outside and inside our churches, the revival of the ancient stole 
instead of the scarf, preaching in the surplice, the use of em- 
broidery on both surplice and stole, and now the introduction of 
stoles of different colors (which has already made such headway 
that in five years or less it will be general), the introduction first 
of chanting the Psalter, then boy choirs, and lastly the full 
choral service with male choirs in surplices, the slowly but 
steadily increasing love for the pure old Gregorian tones, and — 
most important of all — the increasing reverence for the Sacra- 
ments, the celebration of baptism (to say nothing of marriages 
and funerals) in church instead of in private houses, and the 
greater frequency of Eucharists, together with a tendency toward 
early celebrations : all these things, with many more — such as 
the richness of polychromatic decoration — constitute the history 
of a great campaign, an ecclesiastical thirty years' war, in which 
every point of detail has been a battle-field, fiercely contested at 
the time ; and every battle-field has brought a fresh victory for 
the Church party — a victory, that is to say, for that small, de- 
spised, and heartily abused 7?iifiority, against that tremendous, 
overwhelming, and loud-denouncing majority ! Will the majority 
be kind enough to chew the cud over that fact, for awhile, and 
tell us what they think of it ? 

" In every case, sooner or later, the minority have been left 
in quiet possession of the field of battle — the great fact which, 
in all warfare, decides the question of victory or defeat. In a 
great many of the points mentioned, the opponents themselves 
have come, not only to cease their opposition, but to adopt them- 
selves, with great delight, the very things which, ten years before, 
they declared to be ' Popery.' Ten years ago, for instance, the 
decoration of the interior of churches with bright colors and gild- 
ing was loudly and universally denounced by the Evangelical 
press as the latest enormity of histrionic display on the part of 
the Romanizers ; and as being irreconcilable with true views of 
the Gospel. And now, St. George's, Stup^esant Square — the 
very centre of Low-Church opposition to ' Ritualism ' — is com- 
ing out in full strength and brilliancy, so as boldly and success- 
fully to cast into the shade every other building in the country. 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 125 

*' Now it is impossible to account for this thirty years' war of 
perpetual victories for the minority, except in one way. And 
that is, by recognizing the truth, that the great Protestant move- 
ment, in its eagerness to get away from everything that looked 
like Romanism, had do?ie a great violence to human nature, in- 
sisting that beauty — whether of architecture, form, color, sweet 
sounds, vestments, services, flowers, adornment, and what not — 
that all beauty should be banished from the worship of that God 
who hath poured out beauty with an infinite profusion over all 
His works. They committed themselves to the absurd position 
that no public services could be agreeable to God, except such as 
were so ugly, so dull, so dry, and so repulsive, as to be almost 
intolerable to man — unless through a miracle of Divine grace. 
Under the powerful impulse of the Reformation — and there is 
no greater proof of its power than the length of time that it has 
prevented the inevitable reaction — the concentrated energies of 
all Protestant bodies were united in favor of ugliness and bald- 
ness : until the Puritan meeting-house of New England in the 
eighteenth century, and the primitive type of the Methodist 
Bethel, and the Quaker houses of worship, indicated the point 
beyond which it was impossible for the ugliness of vital piety to 
go, in manifesting its opposition to the beauty of holiness. 

'' But human nature is now being revenged upon the ugliness of 
vital piety. Human nature takes pleasure in beauty of all sorts 
and kinds. It may try for awhile, under excitement and strong 
religious prejudice, to pull a long face and persuade itself that 
drab is the only truly spiritual and delightful color, or that the 
sight of black suggests all the sweetness and richness of Gospel 
grace. But the cruel self-torture is sure to break down sooner or 
later : and that there is a general break down going on all around 
us now, is as plain as the nose on a man's face. 

'' For, as human nature is not confined to us Church folks, so 
the movement is not confined to us, but is felt through every 
prominent portion of the Protestant denominations. From time 
to time for years past, we have called attention to The Drift 
among them, showing their increasing disposition toward 
churchliness in a great variety of points. They move so fast, 
indeed, that now and then they get ahead even of our own Low 
Church people, and leave them lagging ludicrously far in the rear. 

" For some two or three centuries, God gave the Protestants 
what they wanted. ' He gave them their desire, and sent lean- 
ness withal into their soul.'' They have at length found it out ; 



126 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

and by a general and instinctive movement they are now 
earnestly at work to discover whether all that was really needed 
or actually gained by the Reformation cannot be fully preserved, 
while nevertheless restoring the beauty of holiness, in such de- 
gree as God Himself has sanctioned in His Word and in His 
works, and such as was the universal heritage of His Church be- 
fore the spirit of ambition and usurpation, division and schism, 
began to cheat her out of her birthright. 

"■ Our readers will now understand the solid basis of that 
' audacity ' of which our opponents complain so constantly, 
and which actually at times almost seems to take their breath 
away. Thirty years of tmvarying victories on evejy field of con- 
test, are a tolerably solid ground for ' audacity ' in any party. 
Those who have thus conquered against such odds, feel that only 
the Spirit and power of God working in them and with them 
could have given them the victory : and in that strength they 
are equally ready for all the conflicts that are yet to come. It 
is no part of ' the Gospel ' as they have learned it, that all 
beauty of form, color, melody, harmony, fragrance, motion, ar- 
rangement, are so entirely consecrated to the world, the flesh, 
and the devil, that they cannot lawfully be used in honor of the 
God who made them. They find that the noblest, purest, cost- 
liest, and best of all these were in His Word commanded to be 
used in His service, and are used in His service in the Court of 
Heaven ; and they know that to come as near as possible to 
those glorious models, with an honest and faithful heart, is the 
nearest and the dearest approach that can be made, during our 
present dispensation, to the realization of a heaven upon earth." 

About this time the different parts of Dr. Pusey's '' Eirenicon " 
came out, and this work, coming as it did, when the public heart 
was softened, and stirred to something very like sympathy by 
Newman's '' Apologia," gave a keener edge to the fear that arose 
" like a summer's cloud " of Rome. Keble was dead, and the 
memories of churchmen were fresh with the spell of the thrilling 
voices of the earlier ' ' Tracts for the Times. ' ' The movement was 
daily becoming more powerful in England, and a feebler, but 
still an harmonious vibration from the same sweeping touch was 
felt here. W^hen, then, in 1866, at the request of a number of 
priests, among whom were Dr. Dix, and Drs. (afterward Bishops) 
Young and Doane, and laymen, the Bishop of Vermont pub- 
lished a thin volume with a smoking censer on the cover, and 



1865-66. J Life of John Henry Hopkins. 1 27 

bearing the title "The Law of RituaHsm " it was felt that 
'^ something must be done" that would have some effect in 
stopping the inroads of the two enemies that it was feared were 
working in concert — Romanism and Ritualism. Accordingly in 
March, 1867, a Declaration by Twenty-eight Bishops was pub- 
lished, which was noticed in the Church Journal by four suc- 
cessive leaders under the title " The Blank Cartridge " — but he 
shall tell his own story. 

"The Blank Cartridge. — Thus far we have had less to 
say editorially concerning ' Ritualism ' than any of our con- 
temporaries. Beyond the giving of the current news from Eng- 
land, and our notices of the Bishop of Vermont's book, a few 
brief paragraphs are all the editorial attention that we have given 
to the subject : while our contemporaries have some of them 
given up column after column for months together, to the excit- 
ing theme. But silence is no now longer possible. The Bishop 

of has sent to the Christian Witness the following document. 

It has long been expected, and the reasons for its extraordinary 
delay are not very clearly expressed : yet the date of its appear- 
ance in our columns is not altogether inappropriate. There will 
now be no lack of material for mortification and humiliation 
during Lent : 

" January 10, 1867. 

" The Committee appointed to draft this Declaration, owing to 
the great distance between the dwelling-places of its members 
and their frequent absences from their homes, were not able, very 
speedily, to complete their work. 

" It was by the unanimous advice of the Bishops assembled at 
Detroit, in December, that the Committee resolved to postpone 
this publication, until the remotest of our Bishops might be heard 
from ; but, even at this date, it is supposed that several of them 
have never received the circular of the Committee. 

" As in the '• Colenso Case,' several of the Bishops object to 
this form of meeting an evil which they deeply deplore ; but not 
one of the Bishops heard from has expressed any sympathy with 
the Ritualistic movement. The reverse is the fact. 

" The Committee think it proper no longer to delay the pub- 
lication. 

Secretary. 

" Whereas, at a meeting of the House of Bishops, held in 
the City of New York in the month of October, the subject of 



128 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

Ritualism was brought to the notice of the House and considered 
with a great degree of unanimity ; and 

'' Whereas, on account of the absence of a number of the 
Right Rev. members of the House, and the fact that the House 
was not sitting as a co-ordinate branch of the General Conven- 
tion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
America, it was regarded as inexpedient to proceed to any formal 
action ; and 

'■'- Whereas, it was nevertheless regarded as highly desirable 
that an expression of opinion on the part of the Episcopate of 
this Church should be given, with respect to ritualistic innova- 
tions ; Therefore, the undersigned Bishops, reserving each for 
himself his rights as Ordinary of his own diocese, and also his 
rights as a member of the House of Bishops sitting in General 
Convention, do unite in the Declaration following : 

"We hold in the language of the XXXI Vth Article of Rehgion, 
that ' every particular or National Church hath authority to ordain, 
change and abolish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church, ordained 
only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying ; ' 
and also in the language of the same Article that : ' it is not nec- 
essary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, or 
utterly like ; for at all times they have been divers, and may be 
changed according to the diversity of countries, times and men's 
manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word ; ' and 
also, that this Church was duly organized as a * particular and 
National Church ' in communion with the Universal or Holy 
Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, and that this organiza- 
tion which took place immediately after the American Revolu- 
tion, was settled under the careful direction and advice, and with 
the cordial co-operation of godly, well-learned and justly vener- 
ated divines, who were well acquainted with the history of the 
Church of England before and since her blessed Reformation, 
and who thoroughly understood what was and is still required by 
the peculiarities of this Country and its people. 

" We hold, therefore, that the ceremonies, rites and worship 
then established, ordained and approved by common authority, 
as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer of this Church, 
are the Law of this Church, which every Bishop, Presbyter 
and Deacon of the same has bound himself by subscription 
to the Promise of Conformity in Article VII. of the Constitu- 
tion to obey, observe and follow : and that no strange or for- 
eign usages should be introduced or sanctioned by the private 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkms. 129 

judgment of any member or members of this Church, Clerical or 
Lay. 

"We further hold, that while this Church is 'far from in- 
tending to depart from the Church of England in any essential 
point of doctrine, discipline or worship, or further than local 
circumstances require,' it yet has its peculiar place, character, 
and duty as a ' particular and National Church ; ' and that no 
Prayer Book of the Church of England, in the reign of whatever 
Sovereign set forth, and no Laws of the Church of England have 
any force of Law in this Church such as can be justly cited in 
defence of any departure from the express Law of this Church, 
its Liturgy, its discipline, rites and usages. 

''And we, therefore, consider that in this particular National 
Church, any attempt to introduce into the public worship of 
Almighty GOD, usages that have never been known, such as the 
use of incense, and the burning of lights in the order for the 
Holy Communion ; reverences to the Holy Table or to the Ele- 
ments thereon, such as indicate or imply that the Sacrifice of our 
Divine Lord and Saviour, ' once offered,' w^as not a ' full, per- 
fect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins 
of the whole world ; ' the adoption of clerical habits hitherto 
unknown, or material alterations of those which have been in 
use since the establishment of our Episcopate ; is an innovation 
which violates the discipline of the Church, ' offendeth against 
its common order, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, 
and woundeth the consciences of the weak brethren.' 

" Furthermore, that we be not misunderstood, let it be noted 
that we include in these censures, all departures from the Laws, 
rubrics and settled order of this Church, as well by defect as by 
excess of observance, designing to maintain in its integrity the 
sound Scriptural and Primitive, and therefore the Catholic and 
Apostolic spirit of the Book of Common Prayer. 

" Signed by the following Bishops." 

The House of Bishops met on the 5 th of October last, and re- 
mained in session on the 6th and 7th of that month, and then 

adjourned. In his little book called publishes, as the 

last of its contents, a "Letter to a Bishop," dated October, 
1866." This letter thus begins : 

" I agree with you that the matter of ' Ritualism ' is becom- 
ing a serious one for us, as well as for the English. I regarded it 

9 



130 A CJiainpion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

as simply absurd, while it was presented in a single instance in 
New York, where the feebleness and shallowness of a foppish 
puerility have served the useful purpose of a caricature. But the 
appearance of the Bishop of Vermont's little book is a serious 
thing, as it opens the door for experiments which are not un- 
likely to be made in respectable churches, if not in some of the 
most important seats of the Church's dignity and strength." 

As this letter is proved by its date to have been written either 
immediately before (which is very improbable) or within a little 
while after, the above Dcclai-ation was sent on the rounds for 
signatures — and written, too, by the Bishop who has taken the 
leading part in that work, and who is generally understood to 
be the writer of the Declaration itself : we can be doing no in- 
justice by interpreting the Declaration in the light thus thrown 
upon it from . 

'' There were, then, only two causes for the five montlis' incu- 
bation that has produced the above document signed by twenty- 
eight Bishops. One was, the 'single instance in New York,' to 
wit, the little church of S. Alban in this city — which is alluded 
to by the Bishop with his usual dignified amenity of phrase, 
and is further regarded by him as ' simply absurd. ' The other 
was, 'the Bishop of Vermont's little book,' which was 'a 
serious thing.' If the Twenty-eight meant merely to condemn 
S. Alban's, they were undertaking to bishop it in another man's 
Diocese ; for the Bishop of New York — notwithstanding the 
urgent pressure brought to bear on him — is not one of the signers. 
He has never given any express sanction to ' Ritualism ' so 
called : but while he amiably neglects to put the law of the 
Church in force against sundry Low Churchmen who openly set 
it at defiance, he is not likely to bring the hand of authority to 
bear hardly upon the clergy and congregation of S. Alban's, who 
have broken no law at all. 

" The document, then, must be understood chiefly as a demon- 
stration against the Bishop of Vermont's book. Now, at the 
time of the meeting in October, that book had not been quite 
one week before the public, and many of the Bishops, who were 
the loudest in denouncing it had not yet read it. Moreover, the 
Bishop of Vermont is the Presiding Bishop, and though it is as 
allowable to differ in opinion from the Presiding Bishop as from 
any other Bishop, it is proper that the acknowledged chief of the 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 131 

Episcopal Order should be treated with a certain degree of 
respect by his younger brethren. If he writes an erroneous book, 
let some one or more of them write a reply wdiich shall dis- 
prove and correct the error. If he have done anything calling 
for even the lightest form of ' admonition, ' the Canons pro- 
vide for the mode of his trial, when he may have an opportunity 
to be heard in his own defence : and any combination of his 
brethren to admonish him in his absence, and in respect to a 
book which many of them had not even read, would have been 
a canonical outrage. To circulate a Declaration which shall 
have the effect of denouncing his book while nevertheless neither 
his name nor his book are specifically alluded to, may be the 
means of obtaining a larger number of signatures from those who 
do not understand the real drift of the operation : but it is an 
act of cowardice in one point of view ; and in another, the signa- 
tures thus obtained are obtained practically under false pretences. 
But both the concealment and the policy of it are of little use, 
when the '■ ' Secretary ' ' himself, while pushing the Declaration 
for signatures, is kind enough to let the cat out of the bag, and 
inform us that ' the Bishop of Vermont's little book ' was the 
only ' serious thing ' under consideration at the time. And, 
moreover, this agrees entirely Avith what we heard from Bishops 
themselves during the meeting of the House in October. 

" Now, the relation in which we stand to the Presiding Bishop 
makes it not only our right but our duty to stand up in his 
defence against this attack from so large a number of his brethren. 
When so many of those lift up their heel against the venerable 
hand that was laid upon their heads — when so many of the 
Fathers turn publicly against the Canonical Chief of their own 
sacred Order — they must expect as a matter of course that a 
reverence for that Order will not now be a shield to them : for 
they have themselves beaten it down, or thrown it away. As we 
have had occasion to say once before, the Bishops must learn to 
show due respect to one another, if they are to be properly 
respected themselves. 

''The fact that our own Bishop, the Bishop of New York, has 
not signed the Declaration, is only an additional reason, to us, 
for exercising our rightful freedom in regard to it. Though, as 
we have said before, he has not expressed any approval of the 
so-called ' Ritualism,' nor is likely so to do, yet we are informed 
that, in the discussion on the subject in the House of Bishops, 
he ridiculed the Anti-ritualistic crusade as a " Mrs. Partington 



132 A Champioft of the Cross. [1865-66. 

kind of business; " plainly told the Bishops that they could no 
more keep down the Ritualistic movement by their '' JDeclaj-a- 
tion ' ' than they could keep down the rising tide with a broom ; 
and that the general average of our parochial services in this 
country might yet bear very considerable improvement, with 
great gain to the cause of the Church. The Twenty-eight Bishops 
have since then been nearly five months hard at work with their 
broom, notwithstanding : and the above Declaration is the re- 
sult. Ten years, or five years, or even one year hence, we shall 
be willing to abide by the confession of any one of the Twenty- 
eight as to the comparative height of the tide, and as to the prob- 
able effect of their Declaration upon its rise. 

' ' During the months of preparation — though the original Cir- 
cular was headed ' jg^^^ Tliis paper is to be regarded as private 
and confidential, until completed by the sigjiatures of Bishops ' — 
its coming was heralded, or its appearance demanded — by the 
Episcopalian and (we believe) by every other Church paper, as 
well as by the Church Review. The Church Journal paid 
respect to the ' private and confidential ' mark at the head of 
it, and made no allusion to the document whatever. For the 
credit of the House of Bishops, we hoped that such a document 
would really never appear. We knew it would do more to ad- 
vance the cause of Ritualism than anything else could do. But 
all the opponents of Ritualism felt sure that the expected Declara- 
tion would be a great gun, whose discharge would shatter Ritualism 
in pieces. It has at last been fired off, and turns out to be but a 
blank cartridge. It will make some noise for a short time, and 
then be comparatively — for the signers' sakes, would that it could 
be wholly — forgotten. And that will be all. 

' ' We ask our readers to preserve the Decla?'ation for a close 
comparison with what we shall say of it hereafter, in proving our 
position that it is but a ' blank cartridge.' 

'' The Declaration set forth by the Twenty-eight Bishops is, as 
we have said, a mere blank cartridge. It is — so far as its main 
object is concerned — mere sound, with no substance whatever. 

'' First of all, the Whereases prove that the House of Bishops 
itself regarded it as ' inexpedient to proceed to any formal action ' 
on the subject : which is as much as to say that what is now pub- 
lished by the Twenty-eight does not call for any formal recogni- 
tion, as binding on any person whatsoever. 

" Next, those TVhereases prove that the Declaration does not 
claim to be anything more than ' an expression of opinion ; ' 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 133 

which amounts to nothing with anybody who feels that he has 
sufficient grounds for a different opinion of his own. The worth 
of an opinion depends entirely upon the competency of the par- 
ties concerned to form and express ' an opinion as is an opinion.' 
At the time when the Bishop of Vermont's book appeared, there 
were not six men in the House of Bishops who could have told 
the difference between a chasuble and a cope, without first being 
informed by somebody else. And the opinion of the Twenty- 
eight cannot be expected to command any general acquiescence, 
when the signers of it do not include those Bishops who are the 
highest of their Order in age, or in learning, or in the impor- 
tance of their Dioceses. 

'■'■ The Whei^eases contain a still further phrase, which nullifies 
the whole document, and really turns it into a palpable farce. 
It is this : ' The undersigned Bishops, reserving each for hiinself 
his rights as Ordinary of his own Diocese, and also his rights as a 
member of the House of Bishops sitting in General Convention, do 
unite in the Declaration following,' etc. That is to say, the 
signers of this ' opinion ' expressly repudiate the idea that any one 
of them is to be bound by it, either in the administration of his 
own Diocese, or in his votes in General Convention ! Now, if 
the signers themselves are not to be bound by it, in the name of 
common sense who else is ? Was ever such an opinion set forth 
before ? Do not the signers themselves here invite everybody to 
treat their opinion with the same contempt which they thus pour 
upon it themselves? 

'' To proceed with the substance of the Declaration. 

''In the first paragraph, about Article XXXIV,, there is noth- 
ing to be objected to, except that ' the peculiarities of this coun- 
try and its people ' cannot be regarded as in all respects what 
they were ' immediately after the American Revolution.' ' Times 
and men's manners ' have manifested many shades of diversity 
since then. And this change has been the greatest precisely in 
those directions which have the closest relation to a practical in- 
crease of Ritualism. The XXXIVth Article, therefore, is a 
much better authority in favor of many and great changes, than 
it can possibly be for preserving the precise style of celebrating 
the services which prevailed ' immediately after the American 
Revolution.' Nay, there is hardly one of the signers who can 
point to a single church in his Diocese where the ritualistic stand- 
ard is now as low as it was in the days referred to. The Bishops 
themselves could not endure the baldness, coldness, and poverty 



134 A Chauipion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

of it ; and if they tried to force it on their clergy and people, the 
attempt would be in vain. We have all happily advanced so far, 
that no Diocese in the land could bear to go back again to that. 
And a paragraph which logically means that, if it means anything, 
is only a ' blank cartridge. ' 

" The positive part of the next paragraph, declaring the obli- 
gation of the subscription of Conformity required in Article 7 of 
the Constitution, is well enough meant ; but it is so curiously 
worded as to limit the obligation to ' the ceremonies, rites, and 
worship then established, ordained, and approved by common 
authority,' — to wit, ^immediately after the American Revolu- 
tion.' Now, inasmuch as the American Revolution took place 
in 1776, and was completed by the Peace of 1783, this ^ imme- 
diately ' cannot — even with some stretching — be made to include 
more than the work of 1789, which set forth the Prayer-Book 
proper, down to the end of the Psalter (which is therefore the 
last item in its Table of Contents). The Twenty-eight, there- 
fore, do actually exclude from 'the Law of this Church,' the 
Ordinal, adopted in 1792 — sixteen yeat-s after the 'American 
Revolution ; ' and also the Form of Consecration of a church or 
chapel, adopted in 1799; the Articles of Rehgion, adopted in 
1801 ; and the Institution Office, adopted in 1808 ; which were 
subsequent to the American Revolution twenty-three, twenty-five, 
and thi?'ty-two years, respectively ! And no reference is made to 
the Digest as being any part of ' the Law of this Church ! ' Of 
course they did not mean this ; but they have actually said it ; 
and we have a right to interpret strictly the language of a docu- 
ment which attempts to impose an intolerable strictness of con- 
struction as binding upon other people. 

' ' But the negative part of that same paragraph is equally queer 
— if it is to be understood as it stands, that (beyond the ' usages ' 
which prevailed immediately after the American Revolution) ' no 
strange or foreign usages should be introduced or sanctioned 
by the private judgment of any member or members of this 
Church, Clerical or Lay. ' There is no coherence between this 
part of the sentence and the positive part that precedes it. The 
one refers only to law, the other only to usages. The position is, 
that whereas certain things were made/<2W in 1789, therefore ^//z^fr 
things which were not made law at that time, or at any other, 
ought never to change from what they were in 1789. To state a 
precisely similar case : The Constitution of the United States, 
adopted in 1787, forbids the making of sumptuary laws, so that 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 135 

the style of hats to be worn nowaday is not regulated by law. 
Thei'efore, it was wrong ever to change the style of hats worn in 
this country, '■ no strange or foreign ' styles of hats should ever 
have been introduced here from Paris or elsewhere ; and all loyal 
gentlemen should now wear only the cocked hats that were 
in use at the time when the Constitution was adopted in 1787. 
Verily, ' here is wisdom ! ' The old three-decker arrangement 
of the chancel ; the duet between parson and clerk ; the total 
disuse of chanting — all the canticles being everywhere read ; 
the total disuse of the cross as a visible symbol ; the total ignor- 
ance of Gothic architecture ; the celebration of the Holy Com- 
munion only three or four times in a year in the most advanced 
parishes ; the almost universal celebration of baptisms, marriages, 
and funerals in private houses ; — all these ' usages ' were right, 
and should never have been changed ! And the changes from 
time to time made in these and other respects — the altered cut 
of the surplice so that we have now half a dozen varieties at 
least ; the change of the old scarf into a fringed stole ; the use ^f 
more or less embroidery on both surplice and stole ; the preach- 
ing in the surplice ; the disuse of that ridiculous and flimsy ap- 
pendage, the bands ; the dispensing with breeches, and silk 
stockings, and shoe-buckles ; the chanting of the canticles ; 
the changes of chancel arrangement by which due prominence 
was given to the altar ; the introduction of large stone fonts in- 
stead of baptismal bowls; the introduction of the lectern for the 
Bible and the faldstool for the Litany ; the bringing in of Easter 
flowers, and Christmas-trees, and anthems, and boy choristers, 
and surpliced choirs, and antiphonal chanting, and choral ser- 
vices, and daily prayers, and weekly Eucharists, and many other 
things that might be named — all these are ' strange or foreign 
usages ' that ought not to have been ' introduced or sanctioned 
by the private judgment of any member or members of this 
Church, Clerical or Lay ' ; and yet that is precisely the way 
in which they all were introduced, and many other similar 
changes ; and the process will go on just as rapidly after this 
Declaration as before — if not a little more so. And what do the 
Twenty-eight propose to do about it ? Legislate our present 
liberty away ? No : they expressly repudiate that ! Enforce 
this their present 'opinion,' each in his own Diocese? No: 
they expressly repudiate that. Do they think that those Bish- 
ops who do not sign it will enforce the opinion any better than 
those who do? Hardly ! The ' Secretary ' who circulated the 



1T)6 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

Declaration for signatures, says expressly : ' For one, I am 
disposed to vote, in the House of Bishops, that all questions 
about ' blue and purple and scarlet ' should lie on the table, to be 
called up only when ' the beauty of holiness ' shall be more visi- 
ble among us. This is just what the Ritualistic party want, 
and all that they want in this matter. The Church of America 
now leaves to her childre?i a larger libei'ty on all these subjects 
than is at present to be foiuid in any other branch of the Catholic 
Church. The Ritualists are determined to use that liberty for 
the restoration of 'the beauty of holiness,' to the utmost 
of their power. And the ringleader in getting up this implied 
censure upon the Presiding Bishop and the Bishop of New York 
— himself kindly assures the Ritualists that until " ' the beauty of 
holiness ' shall be more visible among us " — that is to say, until 
the Ritualists shall have done their ivork — lie will vote for laying 
on the table all measures which would tend to abridge the present 
liberty which is now left to them by the law. Was there ever, 
then, a blanker cartridge than this Declai-ation ? " 

But there is more, and stranger, yet to come ! 

" The third paragraph of the Declaration of the Twenty-eight 
begins with reaffirming the assertion in the Preface of the Prayer- 
Book, that ' this Church is far from intending to depart from the 
Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, 
or worship ; or further than local circumstances require ; ' and 
asserting that we are ' a particular and National Church ' : which 
is right enough. They then go on to say, ' that no Prayer-Book 
of the Church of England, in the reign of whatever sovereign set 
forth, and no Laws of the Church of England, have any force of 
Law in this Church such as can be justly cited in defence of any 
depai'ture front the express Law of this Church, its Liturgy, its 
discipline, rites, and usages.' The whole pith of this lies in the 
vague word ' usages ' at the end of it. The ' express Law of this 
Church ' does not recognize mere ' usages ' as being subject to 
* law ' at all. The insertion of the word in this connection is 
equivalent to sending the gentlemen of the present day back to 
the cocked hats of their great-grandfathers in the year 1787. 
Yet, if that word be omitted, the whole paragraph, with all its 
formidable sound, hits nobody, and nothing. Nobody claims 
the right, from merely English Law, to make ' any departure 
from the express Lmv of this Church.' The only question is in 
regard to cases where there is 7to ' express Law of this Church. ' 
Blank cartridge again ! 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 137 

' ' We might easily dismiss this point here, but we cannot 
consent that the Twenty-eight Bishops shall attempt, by an in- 
formal opinion, to stultify the action of their own House as a 
House, in times when the true principles of the changes made 
' immediately after the American Revolution ' were much better 
understood, and that by the very men who made them. 

' ' The whole question turns, not on ' the express Law ' of the 
Church of America, but on matters which are not mentioned in 
the ' express Law ' of the Church of America, though they are 
mentioned in the ' express Law ' of the Church of England. 
And the House of Bishops has expressed itself at least twice on 
the subject, once as touching the question of the English Canons, 
and once as touching the question of Rubrics dropped from the 
American Book. 

" First as to the Canons : — In 1808, the question of the Pro- 
hibited Degrees came before the House of Bishops on a message 
from the Lower House. This is a subject on which our Ameri- 
can Church legislation is totally silent, but on which the English 
Canon law speaks with perfect distinctness, setting forth the ta- 
ble of thirty degrees which are prohibited ' by the law of God.' 
Some have thought that the ' Law of God ' does not so clearly 
forbid all \hQ degrees there enumerated: and it is evident that 
the House of Bishops thought that possibly some alterations might 
be made in it ' without departing from the law of God. ' This 
makes the case still stronger, for it proves that the ' obligatory ' 
character of that English Canon was derived simply from the 
fact that it was English Canon, which the Church of America 
had not yet seen fit to ' alter. ' We quote from the Journal of 
1808: 

"The House of Bishops, having taken into consideration the 
message sent to them by the House of Clerical and Lay Depu- 
ties, relative to the subject of marriage, as connected with the 
Table of Degrees within which, according to the Canons of the 
Church of England, marriage cannot be celebrated, observe as 
follows : 

" 'Agreeably to the sentiment entertained by them i?i relation 
to the whole ecclesiastical system, they consider that Table as now 
obligato7y on this Clmrch, and as what will remain so ; unless 
there should hereafter appear cause to alter it, without departing 
from the Word of God, or endangering the peace and good order 
of this Church.' 

' ' This decision was sent down to the Lower House, and was ac- 



138 A Champion of the Cross. [1S65-66. 

cepted without one word of opposition there. So that we have 
the distinct authority of the whole General Convention (Bishop 
White presiding in the Upper House at the time), declaring that 
English Canons, whe?i not expressly altered by our own Church, 
are ' now obligato7'y ' upon ' this Church, ' and ' will remain so ' 
until we do ' alter ' them ; and that this is the principle upon 
which our ' whole ecclesiastical sysietn ' rests. So much for 
Canojts. 

" Now for Rubrics. — The English Prayer-Book has a Rubric 
after the third Collect, in both Morning and Evening Prayer, as 
follows : ^ ^ In Quires and Places where they sing, here fol- 
loweth the Anthem.' This Rubric is entirely omitted in our 
American Book. According to the principles of the Declaration, 
the singing of Anthems not provided for by ' express law ' im- 
mediately thenceforward became ' an innovation which violates 
the discipline of the Church, offendeth against its common or- 
der, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth 
the consciences of the weak brethren.' But is that what the 
House of Bishops thought about Anthems in the year 18 14, 
when Bishop White again was presiding, and Bishop Hobart sat 
with him ? Let us consult once more the Journal of the House 
of Bishops, and see what v.as their 'resolve,' when it was sup- 
posed that the ' express law ' of the American Church was needed 
in order to sanction the acting upon a Rubric which had been 
dropped : 

'' ' Resolved, That it is not expedient, during this Convention, 
to go into a review, either in whole or in part, of the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer. It could not, however, but give satisfaction to the 
Bishops to recollect, that Anthems taken from Scripture, and 
judiciously arranged, may, according to the known allowance of 
this Church, be sung in congregations at the discretion of their 
respective ministers.' 

"■ This too, like the other, was formally sent down to the Lower 
House, and was there received without one word of remonstrance. 
Now, this decision touching Anthems could not have rested upon 
what was then the American usage, for it is notorious that at that 
time they had only just begun to chant some of the Canticles 
(an innovation which then created a greater outcry of ' Popery ' 
than the Choral Service does now), and Anthems had as yet 
been introduced nowhere on this side of the water. Therefore it 
is undeniable that we here have the House of Bishops declaring, 
and the Lower House accepting, the position that a practice 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 139 

which rested solely on an English Rubric dropped from the Ameri- 
can Book, might still be continued d& being ' according to the known 
allowance of this Clmrch ; ' and that, although the practice itself 
had thus far 7iever been known on this side of the water. 

" These resolutions explain fully the true meaning of the phrase 
in the Preface of the Prayer-Book, ' this Church is far from in- 
tending to depart from the Church of England in any essential 
point of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or further than local 
circumstances require.' The true meaning of this is evidently, 
that this Church is not only far from intending to depart from 
the Church of England in essentials, but is also far f'om intend- 
ing to depart from the Church of England in any respect ' fur- 
ther than local circumstances require.' The ' local circum- 
stance ' that Bishop Seabury had received consecration from the 
Scottish Bishops, signing a Concordat in regard to the Scottish 
Communion Office, required that certain additions from the 
Scottish Book should be made in our Eucharistical Canon. The 
local circumstance that we had been for 150 years without 
Bishops here, until Church feeling had so nearly died out that it 
was hopeless to dream of enfoi'cing the old Rubrics in all their 
minuteness and stringency, required that those Rubrics should be 
dropped, so that those who disliked their operation might be 
under no fear of compulsion in that direction by the discipline of 
the Church. Where a Rubric has been dropped, Bishops and 
Ecclesiastical courts cannot compel their observance. But where 
the observance has not been prohibited, and where nothing has 
been put in the place of a dropped Rubric, there the Clergy and 
Congregations are left free to practise the old Rubric, or not, 
just as they please ; and no Bishop has power to compel them 
either to do it or to let it alone. The observance of such a 
dropped Rubric is, not ' the express Law,' but ' the known al- 
lowance of this Clmrch.'' 

'' Now, what the House of Bishops thus term ' the know7i al- 
lowance ' of still acting upon a dropped Rubric, is the exact prin- 
ciple on which the whole Ritualistic controversy turns. In the 
English Book, just before Morning Prayer, we have the follow- 
ing Rubric : 

" ' The Morning and Evening Prayer shall be used in the ac- 
customed place of the Church, Chapel, or Chancel ; Except it 
shall be otherwise determined by the Ordinary of the place. 
And the Chancels shall remain as they have done in times past.' 

"And here it is to be noted, that such Ornaments of the 



140 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

Church and of the ministers thereof at ail times of their Ministra- 
tion, shall be retained and be in use as were in this Church of 
England by the Authority of Parliament, in the second year of 
the Reign of King Edward the Sixth. 

" Now, we have not altered this Rubric in the American Book, 
We have not put something else in place of it. We have simply 
omitted it altogether, just as was done with the Rubric about 
Anthems. At that time, Anthems were practically as completely 
unknown in America as Albes and Chasubles and Copes. Now, 
if one part of the above dropped Rubric is illegal in America it 
is all illegal : and therefore the American clergpnan has no right 
to say the Morning and Evening Prayer from the Chancel, nor 
have we any right to arrange the Chancel itself as we do. There 
is absolutely not the scrape of a pen in the shape of Amei'ica7i 
legislation to justify what is our univei-sal practice. The Twenty- 
eight bishops would sweep away the lawfulness of our present 
custom with the besom of destruction. But happily, their posi- 
tion, which is as untenable in regard to the ' Ornaments of the 
Church and of the Ministers thereof at all times of their Minis- 
tration,' as in regard to all the rest — is a mere innovation, un- 
known to the Fathers of the American Church, who have left on 
record their deliberate and unanimous judgment to the contrary, 
both as to Canons and Rubrics. There is no doubt that the 
venerable Bishop White wTote with his own hand both the Reso- 
lutions which we have quoted above from the old Journals of the 
House of Bishops : Resolutions which have been the basis on 
which all the improvements of the past half-century in our mode 
of celebrating divine service have been quietly and steadily 
builded up. They embody the principle upon which ' our 
whole ecclesiastical system ' rests. They cannot be expunged 
now by the innovations of Bishops who seem totally to forget the 
past, in their anxiety to arrest the progress of the present, and 
block all further advance in the future. 

'' As rockets reserve their most brilliant coruscations for the last, 
and shine the brightest just before leaving nothing of their glory 
but the stick : so the Declaration of the Twenty-eight Bishops 
reserves its most extraordinary features for the closing paragraphs. 
With a ' therefore ' — based upon the foundation which we have 
totally destroyed with the Resolutions of the House of Bishops in 
1808 and 1 8 14 — they go on to denounce certain * usages ' 
which (as they say) ' ha\'e never been known ' {sic) ! What caji 
the Twenty-eight Fathers mean ? If these things ' have never 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 141 

been known/ how happened they to have heard of them, and to 
have come out so strongly against them ? And as if once using 
this strange word was not enough, they afterwards condemn also 
' the adoption of clerical habits hithei'to unknown ! ' Now as 
this language is perfectly plain, w^e have a right to conclude that 
the Twenty-eight Fathers mean to condemn only such things as 
'■have never been known,^ and such habits as are ^unknown 
hithe7'to ' ,' and of course — except by some non-natural interpre- 
tation — they cannot mean the doings of the Ritualistic party, for 
they have been known by the most general newspaper clamor of 
our day — in English papers and American, High-Church, Low- 
Church, Broad-Church, and No-Church — for some years past. 
How the Bishops could describe such doings as things ' that 
have never been known,' is beyond our comprehension, unless 
they were determined that their Declaration should be laughed 
at. And they actually specify, as things that have ' never been 
known,' the use of incense and lights during the Holy Com- 
munion — things that are notoriously almost as ancient and as 
universal as the Episcopate itself; and much more ancient and 
universal than such Bishops as these Twenty-eight. 

" But, as if this were not enough, they next condemn such 
'■ reverences to the Holy Table or to the elements thereon ' as 
' indicate or imply that the Sacrifice of our Divine Lord and 
Saviour, ''once offered," was 7iot a full, perfect, and sufficient 
sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole 
world.' When we first read this, we could hardly believe our 
eyes. But, concluding — as we are forced to do — that the sim- 
ple historical fact on the subject is one of the things ' that have 
never been known ' to the Twenty-eight, we do assure them, 
upon the honor of one who happens to know what he is talking 
about, that there is not now, and there never has been in any age 
any branch of the Catholic Church in any land, that has held that 
'the Sacrifice of our Divine Lord and Saviour ''once offered," 
was not a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satis- 
faction, for the sins of the whole world : ' and therefore that it 
is a simple impossibility that any reverences or other acts or gest- 
ures whatsoever could 'indicate or imply' a doctrine which 
no Catholic Christian has ever held. The knowledge of theology 
indicated by this most extraordinary phrase of the Declaration is 
such as we should not have been surprised at in Dr. Cumming or 
Mr. Spurgeon : but in our own Bishops, and Twenty-eight of 
them ! Oh ! 



142 A Champion of tJie Cross. [1865-66. 

'' But perhaps this was only another device to insure that the 
' big gun ' should prove a blank cartridge after all. As only 
those ' reverences ' are condemned which '■ indicate or imply ' 
an impossibility, of course no censure is expressed against any 
' reverences ' which are actually in use anywhere in Christen- 
dom. Is that it? Certainly nothing else can be made of it ! 

'' But no ! All the above, together with ' material alterations ' 
of the clerical habits ' which have been in use since the estab- 
lishment of our Episcopate ' are in a lump, condemned in the 
language of the XXXIVth Article. To introduce any one of 
all the above enumerated ' abominations ' is declared by the 
Twenty-eight to be ' an innovation which violates the disci- 
pline of the Church, offendeth against its common order, and 
hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth the con- 
sciences of the weak brethren. ' What is here declared to be a 
thing that ' violates the discipline of the Church,' we have 
already proved, by the House of Bishops, to be ' according 
to the known allowance of this Church.' It cannot 'offend 
against its common order,' because it is a matter upon which 
the Church hath made no ' order ' at all. And as to ' hurt- 
ing the Authority of the Magistrate,' what can the Twenty- 
eight Fathers mean ? Is the Mayor of New York to send a squad 
of police to 'stop the singing of Anthems in Trinity Church ? Or 
is Governo?' Fenton to interfere to compel the clergy of St. Al- 
ban's to put out the lights on the altar, to give up a violet chas- 
uble, to preach in a black gown, and not to bow at the Sacred 
Name ? What can the Twenty-eight have been thinking of when 
they thus referred, in this connection, to the ' authority of the 
Magistrate ? ' We give it up in despair ! 

'' But is there any sufficient reason for them to speak of their 
' consciences ? ' They use, in quotation marks, the language of 
the XXXIVth Article, as if it applied to the case. That case, be 
it remembered, is in regard to things of which our American ec- 
clesiastical law says nothing at all. Now read the language as it 
occurs in the Article in its proper connection : 

'' ' . . . Whosoever through his private judgment, will- 
ingly and purposely, doth openly break the traditions and cere- 
monies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of 
God, and be ordai^ied and approved by common autho?ity, ought 
to be rebuked openly, (that others may fear to do the like,) as 
he that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and 



1865-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 143 

hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth the con- 
sciences of the weak brethren.' 

'' Here it is as clear as daylight, that the language quoted by 
the Twenty-eight from the Article applies only to those who 
' break ' what has been '■ ordained a?id approved by common au- 
thority' And the Twenty-eight, without one word of qualifica- 
tion, apply it solely to the case of things which have not been 
' ordained and approved by common authority,' nor even so 
much as mentioned in the legislation of the Church ! Is that hon- 
esty ? Is it a fair specimen of the Episcopal ' conscience ? ' 
Why, it entirely beats anything to be found in Tract No. 90, or 
the ' Eirenicon ! ' But ' perad venture it was an oversight.' 

' ' Two other proofs of the utter emptiness of this ' blank car- 
tridge ' yet remain to be noticed. 

" The last paragraph of all is devoted to Low- Church irregu- 
larities ; by way of trimming the boat, we suppose, and to give 
an impression of fairness and impartiality. The proportion of 
Episcopal attentions is, indeed, rather unequal. It is a propor- 
tion of thirteen lines belaboring and denouncing those whose only 
object is to render more glorious the service of God, to one line 
bearing upon those who have set at defiance the fundamental pre- 
rogative of the whole Episcopal Order, and recognize Presbyte- 
rian ordination as valid, and get Presbyterians to assist in con- 
secrating the Holy Communion in our own churches. This 
proportion of thirteen to one puts us in mind of Falstaff's tavern 
bill : ' What, only one ha' penny-worth of bread to this intoler- 
able deal of sack ? ' However, the Twenty-eight ' include in 
these censures all departures from the Laws, rubrics and settled 
order of this Chu-rch, as well by defect as by excess of observance, 
designing to maintain in its integrity the sound Scriptural and 
Primitive, and therefore the Catholic and Apostolic, spirit of the 
Book of Common Prayer. ' And this is signed by all the Low- 
Church Bishops in the House. The Declaration is unanimously 
signed by their Bishops ; yet how much will they mind it ? Does 
not everybody know that that part of it will be treated by the 
Low- Church party as a farce ? And is it to be supposed that 
those of the other party, whose Bishops are not unanimous, will 
treat it with any greater respect on their side ? And yet, with- 
out this transparent farce at the end, the Declaration would 
hardly have received signatures enough to bear publication at 
all. 



144 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

'' Once more : In the original circular of the Declaration sent 
out by the Committee for the signatures of Bishops, there was 
the following address from the Committee to each individual 
Bishop : 

" ' Rt. Rev. Brother — The following draught of a paper to be 
signed by such of the Bishops as may approve of its purport, was 
made by the undersigned committee, appointed at the late meet- 
ing of the House of Bishops, and is now sent in order that you 
may, if you desire to do so, subscribe your name, and return it 
to the Secretary of the Committee. He will then send to each 
Bishop the document, with all its signatures printed, leaving to 
each Diocesan his own course as to its publication, or reception, 
in his own Diocese.' 

'' It is thus kindly provided, by the getters up of the Declara- 
tion themselves, that it shall not be considered as either 'pub- 
lished ' or ' received ' in any Diocese whose Bishop does not 
choose that it shall be published and received. It is thus certain 
that — whatever be its fate elsewhere — it is a perfectly ' blank 
cartridge ' in the Dioceses of Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, 
Maryland, and others — sixteen Dioceses, and among them the 
most pov/erful on the list. Indeed, as it is left to ' each Dioce- 
san ' to take ' his own course as to its publicatioii, or reception, 
in his own Diocese,' we have a right to conclude that where it 
has not been specially published by the Bishop of a Diocese, his 
merely having signed it is to go for nothing. Except the Dio- 
ceses of Massachusetts, Ohio, and Iowa, then, and two or three 
more, the Declaj-ation may be considered, in all the Dioceses of 
the United States, as one of the ' things that never were k/iown. ' 

' ' But that original circular (which is no longer ' private and 
confidential ' now, being ' completed by the signatures of 
Bishops ') concludes with a notable proof of the fatality of style 
which makes this Declaration read in some parts so much like 
a broad joke. Not content with censuring ' usages that have 
never been known,'' and condemning ' clerical habits hitherto un- 
known,' and talking of a doctrine concerning the sacrifice of 
Christ that was never held anywhere, and quoting the language 
of the Article for the precise opposite of its real bearing, and the 
refusal to be bound by an opinion which they set forth expressly 
to influence others, and the talk about ' the authority of the Mag- 
istrate ' as having anything to do with Ritualism in this country, 



TS65-66.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 145 

not content with all this, we say, that Circidai^, with singular fe- 
licity, closed with the following request : 

^'"^^ Further delay is not desii^able, and as this may fail to 
7^each many Bishops in due course of mail, telegraphic answers are 
requested in such cases, 

' ' What could be a better cap-sheaf for such a Declaration than 
such a request ? It is as much as to say — Ifyotc do not receive this 
letter, please answer immediately by telegi-aph ! Nothing else can 
be made of it. Perhaps we can now guess the reason why so many 
Bishops did not reply. How could they answer a letter which 
they never received, about things which ' were never known ' ? 

'^ With this last shout of laughter, let us j^art with our curious 
Declai-ation in all good humor. It has been but a blank car- 
tridge all the while — -a little loud and startling to weak nerves at 
first, perhaps, but doing nobody any harm except the signers. 
And we bear such good-will to them, that — if they will let us — 
we shall forget all about it as soon as possible. We know they 
did not mean to do it ; and as the document was not framed 
with the benefit of deliberation in council, they had not a fair 
chance to do themselves justice. They must remember that we 
have been defending the recorded action of the House of Bishops 
in General Convention assembled, against the informal accident 
of an hour of haste. We have app ealed from Philip a little ex- 
cited, to Philip quite sober. And if our appeal has been trium- 
phantly sustained, it is so much the more to the honor of Philip sober. 
Nobody is hurt ; and there is no harm done ; but it would hardly 
be worth while for them to try it again just in that way." 

Perhaps it is not so strange that one who tore to shreds a seri- 
ous document like the Declaration of the Twenty-eight Bishops, 
and made it the sport of his sarcastic humor was not believed to 
be a very genial and warm-hearted, friendly spirited, and sweet- 
tempered man. Plenty of others saw the same flaws, plenty of 
others ridiculed it, plenty of others made light of it, even though 
their own Diocesans set it forth as a godly admonition, but no 
one else treated it in quite so cavalier a fashion. 

The Declaration was as ineffectual in staying the advance of 
Ritualism as a child's dam on the shore would be to keep back a 
Bay of Fundy tide.* 

* In 1868 when it was moved in the House of Bishops that the Declaration 
be adopted as an act of the House, the motion was laid upon the table, al- 
though a decided majority of the House then present were among the signers. 



146 A Champion of the Cross. [1865-66. 

But the great successes were not yet ^^TOught, although it is 
easy enough in these later days to say that the whole ocean was 
advancing. 

Mr. Hopkins defended the whole line of the advance. All 
the efforts for revived use of Catholic ceremonial, for the estab- 
lishing of a school of true ecclesiastical music, for the building 
and arranging of churches in pointed style and Catholic manner, 
for fulness and exactness of doctrinal expression, for the revival 
of Sisterhoods and Brotherhoods, and all the rest, found in him 
a sincere, hearty, and constant advocate. He also defended the 
lines against the first of the Broad Church attacks upon Christian- 
ity. This was notably the case in the excitement over the Co- 
lenso affair. With Dr. Morgan Dix and Dr. S. H. Tyng, jr., he 
worked to secure signatures to an " Address," like the one which 
was signed by so many English clergymen, against Bishop 
Colenso. 

But, though he was so keen against the Broad Church attacks, 
he saw that they were not always made with the deliberate at- 
tempt to poison the springs of the Gospel, but were in m.any 
cases the recoil from the Calvinism which so many Low Church- 
men had been taught was the true Gospel. Broad Churchmen 
were few in number in those days in America, and he looked 
upon the few there were with mild toleration, because he felt 
they were harmless, and were only taking a roundabout road to- 
ward Catholicity. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

1867-1872. 

The Colenso affair caused the assembling of the first Lambeth 
Conference in 1867, and Mr. Hopkins accompanied his father, 
the Bishop of Vermont, then the Presiding Bishop, to the meet- 
ing of the Conference. Dr. Hopkins always reckoned the Con- 
ference a great feature in the life of the Church. Not many seem 
to value it as highly as he did, although it is to be regularly as- 
sembled at intervals of ten years. He probably had at least as 
much to do with bringing about the first meeting as any other 
one man, if not more, and so his feeling in the matter was quite 
natural. He says: "It was early in the year 185 1 that my 
father, in replying to an invitation from Archbishop Sumner to 
attend the Jubilee of the S. P. G., made the first suggestion of 
such a gathering as the Lambeth Conference. That letter was 
printed in the Guardian at the time. . . . About a year 
later, in 1852, the learned and earnest Bishop Wittingham, of 
Maryland, then in England, repeated the suggestion in a public 
speech, which gave rise to some discussion on both sides of the 
water. Still later, in November, 1854, Bishop Fulford, of Mon- 
treal, preached the sermon at the consecration of Dr. Horatio 
Potter as Bishop of New York. He adverted to the new dogma 
of the Immaculate Conception of the B. V. M., which was within 
a few days to be proclaimed at Rome, and in that connection 
stated the yearning of earnest spirits for the meeting of our whole 
reformed Church in its corporate capacity. The Church Jow- 
nal, on December 7, 1854, said: ^ Let the Archbishop of 
Canterbury invite all the Bishops of the reformed Church to as- 
semble in Canterbury Cathedral to protest against this new 
blasphemous fable and to reassert in the face of the whole world 
the ancient Faith, pure and undefiled.' This article drew forth 
a very interesting letter from that well-known and influential Eng- 
lish layman, Mr. F. H. Dickinson, who mentioned that a friend 
of his, a member of the Lower House of Convocation of Can- 



148 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

terbury ' had been thinking of bringing the subject before the 
House.' Other articles followed in the same paper, from time 
to time, keeping the idea before the mind of the Church. 

" Now I wrote all those articles in the Church Jonnial my sqM, 
being the leading editor of that paper at the time. I had de- 
rived all my strong convictions on the subject from my father. 
The reunion of Christendom was a favorite subject of longing 
^\dth him. As long ago as 1835, he devoted the last chapter of 
his work on the Primitive Chiwch to that subject. Toward its 
close he drew a picture of a great universal council of all who 
call themselves Christians, meeting to settle their differences by 
the standard of Holy Scripture and Apostolical Tradition. So 
glorious was the thought, so entire the rapture of his spirit in 
dwelling on so bright a consummation, that ere he finished he 
found the tears running down his face as he wrote. The Pan- 
Anglican he regarded as only one of the preliminary steps, in- 
dispensable to the other — the easiest step to take, and the one 
to be taken first. So familiar was this idea to me that when 
the carrier of the Church Journal applied to me to write some 
verses for his New Year's Address at the opening of the year 
1854, that was the chief topic to which I devoted my atten- 
tion, branching out from an allusion to the visit of an English 
Deputation of 1853 to our General Convention of that year. 
The description may interest some people as a close approxima- 
tion to a prophecy of an event previously unprecedented, and 
yet made more than twenty-four years in advance of the fiilfil- 
ment, with a very fair measure of exactness — even in details." 

Anticipation of the Lambeth Conference. 

(Written in 1853 for the first annual address of the Carrier of the Church 
y<?//r«(7/ for January I, 1854.) 

" From England's reahn the assembled Bishops see, 
Gathered once more, for solemn Synod free ; 
State shackles — broken, cast off, once for all — 
Shall henceforth never more their powers enthrall. 
With them their brethren stand — from mountainous Wales; 
From Ireland's soft, green hills and richer vales ; 
From Scotland's rugged rocks, 'mid northern seas ; 
From wide America's outspread domain. 
Stretching from sea to sea ; and north again, 
Till Greenland, Labrador, and Newfoundland 
Send Bishops, too, to join the lengthening band 
That come from tropic isles ; and westward, on, 
Till golden California, Oregon, 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 149 

And myriad isles that, in their blindness, be 

Like emeralds set within a silver sea, ^ I 

That wait but morning's sun rising in sight, j 

To leap at once from darkness into light ; i 

From twin New Zealand's deep-indented shores ; 

From vast Australia's mines of shining ores ; . \ 

From Borneo, Burmah, China, and Japan ; i 

From dusky plains and groves of Indostan ; 

From dark Caffraria ; from the deadly coasts i 

Whence slavery long has shipped her shackled hosts ; j 

From steep Gibraltar's rock — from all the earth, ■] 

Sons gather round the cradle of their birth. \ 

In spotless robes I see them move along, ''\ 

Passing on either hand — a joyous throng — i 

Then enter through its western portals ; while J 

Through Canterbury's huge Cathedral pile - j 

Unnumbered thousands with glad voices raise i 

The overwhelming burst of choral praise. 

Up the long nave they pace ; then, mounting higher 

And higher, the line ascends the rising choir ; ^ -1 

Till, rank on rank, their numbers multiplied ] 

Compass the Altar round on every side. /i 

There, let the full Te Deum roll and swell ; | 

The Catholic Creed its faithful oneness tell ; I 

Then let the sacred Gifts be offered up — -j 

Break the pure Bread and bless the ruddy Cup. ] 

Then, from full hearts, from greatest unto least, i 

With breath yet fragrant from the heavenly Feast, j 

The whole immense assembly lift the strain j 

That, long ago, on Bethlehem's star-lit plain, 

Angels began and Saints shall never cease : I 

' Glory to God on High ; and on earth peace ! ' ) 

In sacred Council seated soon, I see | 

The assembled Church prepare its firm decree. 1 

" But lo ! the sudden shadows envious rise ! 

And veil the glorious vision from my eyes." \ 

I 
The service in Canterbury Cathedral, indeed, did not take 

place in 1867, but it was reaHzed in 1878, at the second meet- \ 

ing of the Conference — the procession of an hundred Bishops \ 

entering by the western portal (which is very seldom opened), j 
just as described. The Conference was attended by seventy-six 

Bishops, among whom were nineteen Bishops from the United ; 

States, and all signed the Pastoral Letter. Much the fullest ac- , 

count yet given in print of that meeting is to be found in the i 

*' Life of Bishop Hopkins, by one of his Sons; " but John ' 

Henry's journal of the visit he made with his father to England \ 

and France gives his own account of some of the incidents con- ' 
nected with it, and some parts of it are here given ; 



150 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72 



The Journal of the Visit to England and France. 

'' 1867, August 14th, Wednesday. — Sailed at 3.30 p.m. from 
New York, in steamer Chicago, Captain James Price, with dear 
father, Bishop Odenheimer, ^^ith Mrs. and Miss Margaret Oden- 
heimer, fellow-passengers. 

"August 24th. — St. Bart's. Gale in evening and night. 
Nearly ran on Mizen Head in the dark, at 11 p.m. Narrow 
escape. 

"August 25th, Sunday. — Bright and beautiful. Exquisite 
views of Irish coast from Old Head of Kinsale to Tuskar light. 
Said Morning Prayer, Litany, and Epistle. Bishop Odenheimer, 
Ante- Communion. Father, Absolution and Benediction. No 
sermon. In evening, 8 o'clock, said Evening Pra)'er and father 
preached. A very pleasant service. Holyhead light seen before 
retiring. 

" August 26th, iMonday. — Docked in Sandon Dock, Liverpool, 
at 8 A.M. after beautiful views of river and city in the morning 
light. Queen's Hotel. To Chester at 11 a.m. To cathedral im- 
mediately. Old work almost utterly decayed from destructibility 
of stone. Modern work utterly abominable. Evening service 
beautifully sung by choir. Tallis precessional. Clergpxian open- 
ing the service could not intone. We returned thanks for a safe 
return from sea. Fine anthem. Boys sang very sweetly and 
truly. Some fine windows in north and south chancel aisles, and 
in aisle of nave. Yellow wash, white light in nave. Exquisite 
carvings in choir ; fine old canopies ; carved oak eagle ; miserere 
seats. Altar arrangements wretched. Plenty of scaling yellow 
wash and decay. Bishop's throne semi-modern botch, much 
higher than modern pulpit on opposite side. One transept a 
parish church — miserable exceedingly. Fine, but decaying old 
cloisters, wine vault, etc. Cathedral built in outside with other 
houses. Queer old crooked passages in and out. Bells small, 
cracked, mean. Could not stay a tenth part as long as I wished. 
Returned 5.30 p.m." 

This was his first view of a real cathedral, and it is not diffi- 
cult to fancy him with his eager eyes fastening at once upon 
all the details of the structures which his imagination had fed 
upon for years, and the keen delight with which he saw them at 
last. 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins, 151 

'^August 27tli, Tuesday. — 9.10 a.m. train to Tebay junction. 
Bright day. Beautiful glimpses of Morecambe Bay at Carneforth. 
Climbed Westmoreland Fells after lunch at Tebay, and had charm- 
ing views of soft afternoon shadows among the hills. Lovely 
hill and valley views on both sides of the way to Durham, with 
glimpses of Barnard Castle, and Brancepeth Castle. Glorious 
views of Durham Cathedral and Castle (now University) in the 
evening light, about 7 p.m. Nothing could be more grand, both 
for substance and position. Twilight walk around the cathedral. 
Examination of north side; then under the tall trees by path 
around the west end, with the massive walls and terraces, and 
ghmpses down through the trees to the Wear; then across the 
Prebend's bridge, and down to the water's edge beyond, with re- 
flection of the cathedral in the water ; then back over the bridge, 
with lights from the other bridge shining in the water, and other 
lights twinkling through the trees near the cathedral ; turned to 
the right, and, through the great gate, entered the winding little 
street that runs all round the south and east ends of the cathedral, 
including an immense accumulation of buildings, entering by a 
very narrow lane the open spaces at the north side. On my 
way, entered the great gate of the quadrangle, and walked down 
a closed passage to the right (all lit by gas-lights) leading to 
southeast angle of cloisters, and then under the great oak, and 
round the hall, Dean's kitchen (hexagonal), and the vast entour- 
age of buildings, but found all gates to the cathedral yard closed. 
Returned to the Waterloo Hotel (queer, quaint old hostel) at 
nearly 9 p.m. 

"August 28th, Wednesday. — At the cathedral for some time 
before Morning Service with father. Went through with him 
(before and after service) nave, choir, and chancel, Galilee, 
cloisters, old refectory (with bones of a whale), and down to 
Prebend's bridge, at the farther end of which father made a 
sketch, while I went along South Street at the top of the hill 
toward the lower bridge, getting splendid views of the west front 
of the cathedral and all the other buildings. Thence to the hotel 
by the path just below the west front. At Andrews' got photo- 
graphs and saw Mr. Le Keux, the ecclesiastical engraver. After 
dinner returned, examined Nine Altars, Bishop Hatfield's tomb, 
etc. Afternoon service without organ, and exquisitely done. 
In the anthem (Gibbons) the boys sang like little angels ; but, as 
in the morning, procession straggling and broken, dirty surplices, 
slouchy manners, and irreverence. Altar arrangements an insult 



152 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

to the memory of Cosin. No candlesticks on the altar. Dean's 
seat on no?'th side and Bishop's on t\\Q south just like it, both 
curtained off to keep them from seeing the altar. Bishop's 
throne enormous, over Bishop Hatfield's tomb, but not used. 
After Evening Service, with a verger, went up staircase at south- 
west corner of south transept, through walls, triforium, secret 
passages, looked down into Nine Altars, south transept, nave, 
went out on leads of south aisle, out of southwest tower to 
leads of both libraries, and returned by the way we went up. 
Round the cloisters again, and so farewell. Went over to the 
castle, and saw old tapestry, chairs. Bishop Neile's grand stair- 
case, the private chapel, and Bishop Pudsey's beautiful doorway. 
Candles on the altar in the chapel. At 7.20 p.m. left for York, 
getting another beautiful parting glance at the station, though 
more gray and sober than the evening before, and several fine 
glimpses along the road, the last of which — very fine — was after 
leaving Loamside. Arrived at York before 10 p.m., and imme- 
diately went for a starlight and gaslight view^ of the cathedral, 
which was an exquisite pleasure in its way. Passed all round it 
from the south transept (the first part seen) to the whole west 
end, then back along the south and east and north sides from 
the street. Stopped at Barker's York Hotel; queer, and com- 
fortable, but not so queer as Waterloo, Durham. 

''August 29th, Thursday. — At the cathedral with father. 
Attended Matins, sitting in a returned stall on south side. Pro- 
cession entered orderly, but without music. Service admirably 
done. Anthem, Farrant. Dr. Beckwith's monument with rec- 
ord of all his bequests ! The Evensong still better than the 
Matins ; a charming anthem, (adapted) from Mozart. The or- 
gan was finely played after service, and the effect of the trumpet 
stop, the pipes of which are arranged horizontally, opening down 
the nave, was wonderfully fine. The echoes at every close dur- 
ing the services, and as the organ stopped, were exquisite. 

"August 30th, Friday. — Called on Archdeacon Creyke at 
8.30 A.M. for an order to admit me to the triforia ; but he was 
not yet up. Visited Bootham Bar and Monk Bar, ascending the 
latter, and going all through it, and noting its connection with 
the path that runs along the inside of the city walls. At a little 
before ten o'clock tried the Archdeacon again and got the written 
order I wanted, though rather reluctantly and ungraciously. Mr. 
Temple, the head-mason, admitted me at once, so that I could 
ascend to the gallery that runs round the lantern of the central 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 153 

tower, just below the great tower windows, when he locked me 
in until Matins were over. Looking down upon all the orna- 
mental work, the upper side of it was seen to be terribly dusty — 
the undisturbed dust of centuries, though from below it looks 
clean enough. Could not help thinking that thus God, looking 
down from Heaven, sees the dusty side of all our good deeds, 
while we, looking at them only from below, think they are fine 
enough to be reckoned beautiful in His sight. On the floor 
of the gallery saw a little dead sparrow, which had probably been 
there for a long time. Modern improvement — spurred on by the 
two fires of this century, which destroyed the woodwork of the 
chancel and nave — has provided large tanks in the upper part of 
the central tower, filled with the rain that falls on its top, and 
iron pipes lead it down to the gallery where I was, where coiled 
hose -pipes are ready to convey it in any needed direction. The 
service began ; and at that immense height of nearly one hun- 
dred and fifty feet from the floor, every word of the whole was 
audible, except that the reader of the Lessons used too much 
voice by far. The efl'ect of the whole was exquisite, and the 
delicate echoes from all parts of the building, after each close, 
were finer than when the service is heard below. The Litany 
gave greatly multiplied opportunities for hearing this effect. 
After service went with Mr. Temple all through the triforia, 
which are lathed and plastered at the back of the triforium 
pillars, the said plaster being painted black to conceal the sham. 
It is to help the operation of the stoves in winter, the stove-pipes 
being led through the walls, and out behind buttresses above the 
aisle roofs. Gas lights the choir in a straight line under the 
triforium, and around the heads of the piers in the nave. The 
aisles only are vaulted with stone, the rest being a wooden sham 
put up in the last century. The groins over the aisles are not 
filled up level as at Durham, but left in hills and hollows above. 
Ascended the western towers to the bells — the wind playing an 
seolian harp on the I'oevre boards (slats) of the belfry, and 
stood in the open pinnacle of the west gable of nave. 

' ' The view of the nave from the base of the great west window 
inside, is the best. After dinner went with father to the new 
Roman Catholic St. Wilfrid's Church, nearly under the cathe- 
dral. It is apsidal, and a very beautiful specimen of the best of 
modern art. To Sampson's for photographs. At 4.20 p.m. left 
for Lincoln ; the railroad ride as smoky and dusty as any in 
America, stopping thirty-five minutes at Doncaster, where I ran 



154 ^ Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

up to see the famous parish church, lately restored, or rather, re- 
built, after the original design. It is cruciform, with very fine 
central tower, and is very much in the style of York Minster, 
though more consistently carried out. Arrived at the White 
Hart in Lincoln a little after 8 p.m. In the dim light we could 
see the great beauty of the winding ascent of the hill, and the 
outlook over the plain below. Before supper father went with 
me to walk round the cathedral, which was close by, and which 
we passed on our way to the inn. We went all round the west, 
south, and east fronts and saw partially the north also, with its 
singular and beautiful Chapter House. The starlight and gas- 
light gave us a very peculiar and beautiful effect. 

" August 31st, Saturday. — Devoted the day to the cathedral. 
After Matins went all round with father ; and afterward ascended 
the central tower, the highest in England, and enjoyed a splen- 
did view, notwithstanding the smoke and mist. Went all the 
way through the triforia from east end to west, round both tran- 
septs. Curious irregularities in various parts. The two sides of 
the northern transept do not correspond, one having twelve open- 
ings, the other eleven. The west end of the nave, including 
the great window, is not in the middle, and the roof ridge takes 
a turn to match. But the whole abounds in exquisite work, 110- 
whcre overdo?ie, and the stone is in much better preservation 
than at York. The choral service is very well done, and the 
pronunciation of the words all through the Psalter is perfectly 
distinct, like the voice of one man. But the touches of harmony 
in the General Confession at York are far superior to the effect 
of simple monotone, especially when the note, as at Lincoln, 
drops a third on coming to the Lord's Prayer. The anthems, 
modern and highly florid, most artistically done ; one of the 
boys going up to B^. In the afternoon notified the Rev. Mr. 
Venables, the precentor (who is the canon in residence), that 
we would receive the Holy Communion on the morrow. Lie 
very politely promised to call on father, which he did at about 
eight o'clock, and invited us both to dine with him on Sunday. 
He insisted, too, on lending me one of the volumes of Murray's 
"Handbook to the Cathedrals," which was very full of useful 
information. On the whole, both father and I prefer Lincoln 
to all the cathedrals we have yet seen. 

'' September ist, Sunday (Tenth after Trinity). — Attended 
Matins, the Dean of Stamford (' peculiar ') preaching a fair, 
moderate, evangelical sermon. After the Offertory the whole 



1S67-7-2.J Life of Jo Jin Hen-ry Hopkins. 155 

congregation (which was the largest we had yet seen in a cathe- 
dral) left the stalls and subsellae, and occupied the modern 
benches between them and the altar rail (which is modern, 
brass, and very good, with vine and grapes running the whole 
lengthy with text in good raised letters, ' I am the true vine,' 
etc.). Not a single note of music from that time to the end of 
the whole service ! The Dean, Jeremie, consecrated at the 
north end. No candlesticks on the altar. Cold and chilling ! 
— after the beautiful choral service. Dined at the precentor's. 
At 3 P.M. the precentor preached in the nave, father declining 
his repeated invitation to preach for him. The pulpit was a 
miserable modern movable one (the new modern pulpit in the 
choir is splendidly well done), and several hundreds were pres- 
ent, on open movable benches facing the preacher, whose place 
was between two piers. A hymn was sung, and then the ' bid- 
ding prayer,' closing with the Lord's Prayer, and then the ser- 
mon. At its close another hymn and the blessing. The sermon 
was evangelical, but earnest and good — better than the morning. 
Nearly the whole congregation then went into the choir for 
Evensong, the entire space of the chancel from the gate up to 
the altar rail being fairly crowded ; and the service was delight- 
ful. Took tea at the precentor's, and listened to some very 
pleasant music from Mrs. Venables (from Mendelssohn's * St. 
Paul ') and daughters, from ' Hymns, Ancient and Modern.' Six 
lovely daughters, none yet old enough to come out, and all 
promising to be musical. Went with the precentor to call on 
Dean Jeremie, an old bachelor, with whom we spent a very pleas- 
ant hour. He is affable, full of information, and a hard-working 
member of the Ritual Commission (being Regius Professor of 
Divinity at Cambridge also). He told us the late partial report 
was unanimous, though some expressions in it would be inter- 
preted differently by different members. of it, and a few were pro- 
tested against by some. The tug of the battle was yet to come. 
Returning, we took supper at the precentor's, and then to our 
hotel, after a very pleasant day. 

'' September 2d, Monday. — At a little after 8 a.m. started for 
Peterborough, where we arrived just in time to catch the Creed, 
Preces, Anthem, and Prayers. Were shown into a stall by the 
back way. The distant voices were very sweet as we entered 
the nave, and heard them from the remote distance. Left after 
a short visit, with great regret, buying my photographs of the 
verger. Luncheon with father at the station-hotel, where he 



156 A Champion of the Cross, [1867-72. 

had been waiting for me for some time, having in meantime 
been writing a poem on the need of some rituahsm to warm up 
the devotion glace of the present Enghsh cathedral service. At 
3 P.M. started for Ely, where we arrived at a little past four 
o'clock, catching an exquisite view of the cathedral and city 
from the railway just before stopjDing. Drove up to the West 
End, and caught part of Evensong, as it sweetly echoed down 
the nave. Quietly we went up together, and took the first we 
came to of the open seats in the nave. The Anthem was ad- 
mirable, and most charmingly sung, ' O pray for the peace of 
Jerusalem.' Were perfectly delighted with the modern work 
under G. G. Scott, which has now been twenty-eight years in 
execution. For the first time in a cathedral, the altar was 7iot 
the meanest part of the church, but the most gorgeous. The 
altar-cloth was of exquisite needlework ; the reredos of alabaster, 
adorned with jewels, colored marble mosaics, and most exquisite 
carvings. Five scenes from our Lord's life are sculptured in high 
relief immediately over the altar, in alabaster, partially colored 
and gilded ; and exquisite figures scattered all over the reredos 
throughout, and as finials. Much of the old woodwork has been 
renewed or restored in excellent taste. The woodwork of the 
choir is all new, and with a wonderful series of carvings in wood, 
done in Belgium from English designs, the Old Testament being 
on the south side, and the New on the north. The old rood- 
screen is gone, and a new and open one takes its place — to my 
regret, in some measure — with the rood in the middle. It is 
very rich and good, in oak ; but has no returned stalls, except 
one seat for the Bishop (it is a local peculiarity of Ely that 
there is no episcopal throne in the usual place) on the south 
side, next the wall, and a similar one for the Dean on the north, 
with tabernacles rising far higher than the cross in the cen- 
tre. The carvings on the ends of the bookboards in the stalls 
and subsellae, with finials of angels, are beautiful. The ruins of 
the north part of the west end are painfully visible, and other 
fragments of ruin appear here and there, but picturesqttely every- 
where. The Bishop lives in the Close, and quaint and beautiful 
paths lead round to the various houses, with many fine trees. 
The famous octagonal lantern, which I was prepared to admire 
most, pleased me least. It is evidently a makeshift by those who 
had not courage or liberality to rebuild the central tower when 
it fell down. The restoration of the exterior is unsatisfactory in 
point of color. It was hard to tear myself away from this most 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 157 

magnificent specimen of modern work that is good. In the 
Choral Service — which is admirably well done — the Confession 
is the same as at York ; but they were just then very deficient in 
the bass, Durham, York, and Lincoln having voices that went 
down to EE, DD, and in one case to CC. 

*^ September 3d, Tuesday. — Raining hard, but went with 
father to the cathedral to Matins. Anthem again very beauti- 
ful. ' The valleys shall stand so thick with corn that they shall 
laugh and sing.' The rain had grown to a thunder-storm, and 
while it was so dark that the two standards of gaslights on the 
rood screen had to be lit (with beautifiil effect upon the wood- 
work), the lightning flashes illuminated the whole church, and the 
peals of accompanying thunder added sublimity to the effect of 
the music within. The pattering of the driving rain on the 
triforium roofs was very audible, but every word of the musical 
service was heard through it all without difficulty. After service 
saw father home to the Lamb inn, and then returned to study 
the stained glass and the ceiling, which I did till my neck ached 
almost past endurance. Met in the nave Mr. Taylor, the author 
of a number of antiquarian works, and Mr. Charles Minet, of 
the Athenaeum Club, who kindly offered to give father the en- 
tree there during his stay in London. But the talking with 
these two, though pleasant, cheated me out of my ascent to the 
triforium. At 1.47 p.m. (or rather, half an hour later^ set out 
for Norwich in the rain, where we arrived just as it had cleared, 
and in time for Evensong at the cathedral. The shabbiest 
service we have yet attended. Not a boy wore a surplice. The 
Magnificat and Nunc dimittis were only chanted. The Anthem 
needed much more practice, but there was one boy's voice more 
delicious in quality of tone than any other we have heard. The 
service over, the boys and the rest of the choir went out higgledy 
piggledy. 

"The woodwork of the choir is in shabby condition. The 
restorations now going on are in vile style. The new Dean, 
Goulburn, has not had time yet to make himself properly felt. 
There is more of ruin, carelessness, chronic and disgusting neg- 
lect here than in all the other cathedrals we have visited put to- 
gether. But there are many fine things nevertheless. The 
entrance to the cathedral Close, through the Erpingham gate, is 
fine. The use of flint with other stone is peculiar and pleasing. 
The Norman work is a study in itself; and so is the way in 
which the subsequent styles have injured it. The triforium is 



158 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

larger than ever, and one high open arch, without subdivisions, 
surmounts each arch of the nave below. The subsequent linn- 
dows inserted have spoiled it as a blind story. The apse is ad- 
mirable in effect. The altar the meanest part of the church, of 
course. The quaint old Norman chapels on the southeast very 
peculiar. The cloisters are perfect on all four sides. Nearly 
every present residence in the Close has its own pet bit of ruin, 
some of them picturesquely covered with ivy. 

" September 4th, Wednesday. — Attended the 8.30 a.m. ser- 
vice, which was Choral, with Litany, but without Anthem. 
Boys in jackets and trousers as before. Went round the church 
carefully, inside the old Norman chapels, up the triforium and 
upper walk above the triforia. At 11. 15 started from the Maid's 
Head for London, via Ipswich and Colchester; where we arrived, 
through rain nearly all the way, at 4.30, and took cab for West- 
minster Palace Hotel; in reaching which cabby took us twice 
across the Thames, giving us fine views. Walked out with fa- 
ther, and got a look at the Abbey and the Parliament House, 
and a new drinking fountain now being erected near by in beau- 
tiful style, with marbles, tiles, colors, and gold. After dinner, 
while father was enjoying his pipe, walked out alone, crossed 
Westminster Bridge, getting an exquisite view of the Parliament 
House with the young moon behind it, and the reflection of both 
in the water. Turned to the left on the other side, and walked 
to Lambeth Palace and around the outer wall. Inquired on my 
return past the gate, and learned from the porter that the Arch- 
bishop is not in town. Returned over Lambeth Bridge, and 
back to the Parliament House, walking along its northward front. 
It is an immense building, and the great tower is superior in 
effect, as in size, to any I have ever before seen. Found the 
Abbey exterior more imposing than I had thought at first, both 
for size, height, and proportion. The cleaning process now go- 
ing on makes it look droll — part cream color or whiter, and 
part black as ink. Returned to the hotel to study the map and 
prepare for to-morrow's work. 

'' September 5th, Thursday. — Attended Matins in the Abbey. 
The service not very well done — not equal to Durham, York, 
Lincoln, or Ely. Went partially the rounds, with the guide, 
through the chapels. Was disgusted with the shabbiness of many 
things, especially the coronation chair, which is partially de- 
cayed or mutilated, and cut over with people's names like an old 
schoolboy's desk, looking dirty, mean, and fit only for a rubbish 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkuis. 159 

heap. Restoration is going on, but slowly. Things will be 
better by and by. The loftiness of the building is great, but too 
great for its strength. All the aisle arches are bound together 
with iron rods, both ways. (Mr. Foster, clerk of the works, 
tells me this iron was needlessly inserted by Christopher Wren.) 
Some of the monuments of Queen Elizabeth's days are the stiff- 
est and ugliest possible. Modern abominations abound. The 
rabble of modern monuments has indeed taken possession, and 
they mean to hold it. Henry the Seventh's Chapel is at present 
in dirty condition. The banners over the knights' stalls have 
not been changed since 181 2, when the last public installation 
took place, and all those whose banners — dusty and dropping to 
pieces — were then hanging, are now dead. Installations are 
now by commission from the Privy Council. 

" The effects of light in the Abbey were glorious this morning, 
there being a sort of mist, as of incense clouds, through the 
whole upper part of the building, and the sun's rays made bright 
beams through the air wherever they shone in. The modern 
pulpit in the nave is very good. St. Edward's shrine was to 
me the most interesting monument, though far from showing its 
original beauty. It is but a mutilated remnant. Walked all the 
way to our bankers, at Founder's Court, Lothbury, through 
Whitehall Street, Charing Cross, the Strand, under Temple Bar, 
through Fleet Street, up Ludgate Hill, past St. Paul's, etc., see- 
ing many famous sites (no pun intended) on my way. Entered 
St. Paul's on my return, and looked round. The greater part of 
the exterior is black as ink. Found the interior rather more im- 
posing than I had expected : but as soulless as any Protestant 
could desire. Lord Nelson's monument, with a big British 
lion, '\s> inside the chancel. Modern monuments, of the patriotic 
and loyal order, have the whole field to themselves. 

'' September 6th, Friday. — At the Abbey again, at Matins, and 
took another walk through the chapels and Poet's Corner. Service 
rather poor. Returning to the hotel, found the Rev. Thomas 
W. Perry at the door, and took him up to our room to see father. 
Had a very pleasant call from him, and much very interesting 
conversation. It was at the suggestion of Mr. Gladstone and Sir 
Robert Phillimore (the new ecclesiastical judge) that father's 
'Law of Ritualism ' was reprinted here in a cheap edition. Dr. 
Pusey told him that he had learned from the French bishops 
things that would greatly surprise the Pope ! The movement 
among Romanists toward something better is broad and deep. 



i6o A CJiainpion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

'' Visited St. Alban's, Holborn, but not in service-time. It 
is approached only through two very narrow and crooked streets 
swarming with the poorest sort of people, and looks as if it were 
used ^SS. the time. It is open every day from 6.30 a.m. till 9 
P.M. There is daily communion, and there BXQfour celebrations 
every Sunday; at 7, 8, 9, and 11 o'clock. The church is 
beautifully fitted up in the interior, the walls being of colored 
brick, and the chancel richly decorated. The east wall is 
covered with paintings of scriptural subjects, drawn by L' Es- 
trange, the same who painted the ceiling of Ely. The reredos 
is richly gilded. There are Jive priests attached to the church, 
at work all the time, and the work is so severe that they are 
soon used up. Happened into Lincoln's Inn, was greatly 
struck by the peculiarities of the place. 

'' September 7th, Saturday. — Busy all the morning. After 
dinner, did the Parliament House, finding much more for admi- 
ration than I had expected. The Victoria Tower is the finest 
tower in Europe ; and the Clock Tower, with its chiming quar- 
ters, is one of the chief pleasures of staying at the Westminster 
Palace Hotel. 

'' The wall-paintings are very fine — the two great pictures of 
Maclise — the Death of Nelson, and the Meeting of Wellington 
and Blucher after Waterloo — well worth a most patient study. 
Apropos of civil wars, it is instructive to see the leading spirits 
on both sides now represented with equal honor upon the walls 
of a Parliament House, whose members no longer raise a question 
either about the loyalty due to the crown, or the liberty which 
is the legal right of the subject. 

" Westminster Hall is a grand old chamber, rich with associa- 
tions from the most stirring times of England's history ; and the 
crypt is an exquisite specimen of ecclesiastical restoration, though 
not recognized as a church by the visitors, for the whole crowd 
kept their hats on in presence of a handsomely vested altar, with 
candlesticks and candles on (not lighted, of course, there being 
no service). In the new work now going on in the New Pal- 
ace Yard to complete the grand entourage, noticed some very fine 
modern carving, foliage undercut and animals, remarkably well 
done. 

" September 8th, Sunday (eleventh after Trinity). — Rose be- 
fore 6 A.M., and attended the seven o'clock communion at St. Al- 
ban's, Holborn. Some fifty or sixty communicants were present. 
After getting a cup of coffee and a roll at a cheap eating-house, 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 16 1 

walked to St. Michael's, Shoreditch, and was present at the latter 
part of their early celebration there. Only a few present ; but 
the church is situated very much as St. Alban's is, among the 
poor and laboring population. There is a long row of tenement- 
houses on one side of the church ; and at the end of it a modest- 
looking dwelling of the same kind of brick, with a cross over the 
door, and an inscription, 'Sisters of the Poor.' The church is 
in very much the same general style as St. Alban's, Holborn — 
handsome, roomy, and well appointed in every respect. Nothing 
looks as if it were thought to be ' good enough for the poor. ' In 
both, great cost and ornament, with different colored marbles, 
have been laid out on the font. Returned to St. Alban's (passing 
by Smithfield, where the martyrs were burned in the time of Queen 
Mary, now boarded in for the erection of a market), and, arriv- 
ing before the end of their nine o'clock celebration, heard Gloria 
in Excelsis sung to old Merbecke's melody, just as I have it in 
my book. The High Celebration began at 11.15, after Morning 
Prayer, which was choral, Gregorian, and heartily well sung. 
Not a cathedral in England has yet put as much life in the choral 
service as this free church for the poor ; and in it were four cele- 
brations of the Eucharist, while in Westminster Abbey, with all 
its splendid endowments, there was none ! 

" Only the two hghts were used at Holy Communion; and 
the incense, offered at the consecration, was very abundant, and 
the odor was perceived all through the church. The effect was 
beautiful and solemnly impressive. The sermon was by Canon 
Fortescue, of St. Ninian's, Perth, and extemporaneous, earnest, 
respectably fluent, with only one gesture, and that awkward and 
constantly repeated ; the subject being the Re-union of Christen- 
dom, that day (the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary) being 
the tenth anniversary of the Association for the Promotion of the 
Unity of Christendom. After service was over, the Rev. Drs. E. 
A. Hoffman and E. K. Smith made their appearance, both hav- 
ing been present during the service. Dined with them at the 
Knights Templars Coffee-house, and went with them in the 
afternoon to St. Paul's, where we heard Canon Melvill preach. 
There were over two thousand persons present, filling the whole 
choir very full and a large part of the rotunda besides. The ser- 
mon came in after the Third Collect and the Anthem. Some 
hundreds went out after the Anthem and before the sermon, and 
several other hundreds after the sermon and before the conclud- 
ing prayers. Took tea with Drs. Hoffman and Smith at the 
11 



1 62 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

Langham Hotel, and attended Evening Service with them at St. 
Andrew's, Wells Street, where the music was very good Angli- 
can. On our way to the hotel before tea, took a look at the ex- 
terior of All Saints, Margaret Street, the finest modern church in 
London by far ; and after Evening Service at St. Andrew's re- 
turned to All Saints (which is within a block) and caught a 
glimpse of the magnificent and highly decorated interior. 

" September 9th, Monday. — Attended Matins at the Abbey, 
and waited on Canon Wordsworth (in residence that week) for 
an order to inspect the chapels at my leisure, and the triforium, 
etc., which he kindly gave me, and I had some very pleasant 
conversation with him about Church affairs. He looks to the 
American Bishops to put life in the Council ; and says that the 
defeat of the Three Bishoprics bill was wholly due to the Bishop 
of Oxford (Wilberforce), who insists that the Bishops must all 
have equal chance to be Peers in Parliament ! 

'' Inspected the chapels thoroughly in company with a young 
artist or architect who was sketching there, but had not time for 
the triforia. After dinner went to the S. P. G. Rooms to leave 
father's address, and learned that the Bishops Wilmer {i.e., J. P. 
B., of Louisiana, and R. H., of Alabama) were at Portland Street 
Hotel, and called on them at once, but found they had left town 
for a few days. 

'' September loth, Tuesday. — Went by appointment to see Mr. 
Mackonochie, and had a good talk with him from eleven till one 
o'clock, which was highly satisfactory in every respect. After 
lunch in a chop-house went to London Tower, and was shown 
all through, but had not time to stop and examine one-tenth part 
of what I wished to see. Among the arms are some revolver 
guns and pistols of the time of Henry VHL, from which Colt is 
said to have borrowed his ideas of a revolver. Saw the Crown 
Jewels and the Beauchamp Tower ; but was most of all pleased 
with the pure Norman Chapel of St. John. Ascended the Mon- 
ument, commemorating London's fire in 1666, and had a fine 
view, though to the west the horizon was not only lost in smoke 
and mist but it was so thick that the lower parts of the Parlia- 
ment Houses were invisible, and only the towers appeared above 
the fog. Walked nearly across London Bridge, and returning, 
took one of the penny boats up the Thames to Westminster 
Bridge. A hard shower came up on the way, driving us all down 
into the stifling cabin, where there was scarcely room to move or 
breathe. Rain came harder and harder, until I was well wet be- 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 163 

fore I got to my room. That evening Bishop Wihiier, of Louis- 
iana, came to call on father, and dined with us, staying till 10.30 
P.M. — a most delightful visit to us both. 

''September nth, Wednesday. — Wrote editorial on the pro- 
posed arrangements for the Council, as published by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and sent by him to father. After dinner at- 
tended Evensong in the Abbey. Boys gabbled the Psalms abomi- 
nably, and organist was more than half the time behind the voices ; 
but the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis and the Anthem were beau- 
tifully sung. After Evensong delivered the Archdeacon's order 
to Mr. Foster, clerk of the works, who sent a young man with 
me all over the triforia. (In the morning received a very pleas- 
ant call from Mr. Thomas Ramsay, with whom all bygones are 
bygones.) 

"September 12th, Thursday. — The Bishop of Louisiana 
joined us at our hotel this morning, having taken the rooms next 
to ours — a great addition to our comfort in every respect ! 
Went with him and father to call on Archdeacon Wordsworth 
(this Archdeacon Wordsworth, whose name appears so often in 
this journal, was Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, afterward Bishop 
of Lincoln) ; but after finding our way to his door through the 
curious turnings of the cloisters, etc., found him ' not at home,' 
much to our regret. Then went to the north entrance and en- 
tered the Abbey, going round the chapels with father and the 
Bishop of Louisiana, examining everything by ourselves. 

''September 13th, Friday. — At my room till 4.55 p.m., when 
we took the train at Victoria Station for Croydon, where the 
Archbishop's carriage met us, and drove us through a beautiful 
country to Addington Park. Fine trees by the way. The iVrch- 
bishop received us very kindly, took us out into the garden, and 
introduced us to Miss Longley (and afterward to her sister), under 
the great cedar (branches spread over more than one hundred 
feet diameter). Flower-beds of bright colors in the green lawn. 
Borders each side of the road like rainbows, bands of flowers, 
each band being of one tint. Dined at 8 p.m. The Bishop of 
New Zealand and Mrs. Selwyn arrived before dinner was over. 
Spent a delightful evening. Bright moonlight. 

" September 14th, Saturday. — The Archbishop unexpectedly 
extending his invitation till Monday morning, I went to London 
to get some things we had left behind us, walking all the way (a 
delightful walk) to East Croydon, and in the evening back 
again. Overtaken near Shirley Church by the Archbishop's car- 



1 64 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

riage, and pressed by Miss Longley to take a vacant seat there, 
but declined, and finished my walk both ways. Rain began to 
fall just as I arrived at the palace. Miss Longley sang, and with 
a remarkable combination of excellencies — unaffected truth, good 
timbre, thorough cultivation, and charming taste and feeling. 

" September 15th, Sunday (12th after Trinity). — Saw Miss 
Rosamond Longley' s sketch-book, which has a great deal of merit. 
Received from her a photograph of the great cedar-tree. Weather 
clear and cloudy alternately, a perfect English day. The tender 
half-misty lights on the rolling hills, the walk through lawn and 
garden, and the road bordered by eight parallel tints of leaves 
and flowers on each side, and the quadruple avenue of old 
elms, and then another garden, to the churchyard and little 
parish church of Addington : all in perfect keeping. Grassy 
and well-kept churchyard, in which Archbishops of Canterbury 
are buried. The church is of split flints, with freestone dress- 
ings : tower, nave of three bays, south aisle, chancel in which 
are old Elizabethan monuments of a knight and his wife, and two 
other couples above, kneeling nose to nose on cushions. Three 
very small round-headed windows over the altar, Avith tremen- 
dously wide splay. Queer old desk with double face, lessons 
being read toward the Clerk's desk, and the rest, at right angles 
to the congregation. No organ. All the Canticles (except 
Te Deinn, which was read) chanted to the same double chant, 
morning and afternoon, led by a good baritone voice in the 
congregation, all joining in very heartily, as they did in the 
responses also. A good sermon from the Bishop of New Zea- 
land, the Vicar taking the rest of the service, the Archbishop 
holding a service and preaching at Croydon. In the afternoon 
the Bishop of New Zealand preached again, dear father declin- 
ing because of his cold, and I declining also, not conceiving it 
proper for a deacon to preach before an Archbishop and two 
other Primates. Sate between the Archbishop and dear father 
in the same pew. After service, was introduced, at the Arch- 
bishop's, to Mr. Sharpe, editor of the Gtmrdian, and had some 
pleasant talk with him. Tea under the great cedar on the lawn. 
Singing from Miss Longley in the evening. 

"September i6th, Monday. — Left Addington Park after 
breakfast, though kindly invited to remain till after lunch. 
Stopped at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, where we lunched 
and remained till past 5 p.m., seeing only an infinitesimal frac- 
tion of what there is to be seen there. Antediluvian animals 



1867-72.] Life of JoJin Henry Hopkins. 165 

particularly interesting. Returned to London, dear father 
being very tired. 

''September 17th, Tuesday. — Went to Masters' and then to 
Parker's, for a copy of Keble's Letter on Tract 90, to transcribe 
for the Archbishop of Canterbury the declaration of Convo- 
cation of 1 57 1, about making the Primitive Church the standard. 
Went with father and the Bishops of Illinois and Louisiana to 
the preliminary meeting of Bishops at the House of S. P. G. , 
and waited in the upper room until they were done, from 
12 M. till 4.15 P.M. Studied maps of colonial sees, and read 
Parker Society's volume of Grindal's Remains. Returned with 
father to hotel and lunched. At 7.30 went with father to a 
very pleasant dinner-party at Mr. J. G. Hubbard's, 24 Prince's 
Gate, Kensington Road, where we met the Bishops of Cape 
Town and Ontario, Archdeacon Wordsworth, the Rev. Mr. 
Perry (who sat beside me), Mr. R. Brett, Mr. Palmer, and 
others. 

" September i8th, Wednesday. — Wrote for the Church Joicrna I 
an account of yesterday's meeting, which made me too late for 
the Oxford 10 a.m. train. Spent intervening time at Masters', 
selecting photographs of distinguished men. Took the noon 
train at Paddington Station, arriving at Oxford (distant glimpse 
of Windsor Castle by the way^ and views of Oxford City — be- 
fore we reached it — Ncwmari s views, see Apologia — ) at nearly 
2 P.M. Walked down Queen Street, and the High, to the Mitre, 
and dined. Called on Dr. Pusey, but found him engaged, and 
left father's letter and my card. Attended Evensong at the 
cathedral, the choral service being very well done, and the 
Anthem elaborate, though the Minor Canon could not take an 
interval- of a whole tone well. Visited Christ Church, Oriel 
(seeing the rooms formerly occupied by father, when a guest 
there). Corpus Christi, Merton, and University Colleges, walking 
the whole length of the Broad Walk. Then Queen's, St. Peter's 
in the East, New College and gardens, Wadham, and the New 
University Museum, which is exquisite, by G. G. Scott. Looked 
in at the Sheldonian Theatre, the schools, the Radcliffe, Brase- 
nose, and St. Mary's, so to the Mitre. At 8 p.m., again called 
on Dr. Pusey, and once more found him engaged ; but as he de- 
sired me to wait, I waited for half an hour, and then enjoyed a 
good two hours' talk with him. He was extremely cordial, 
asked me to stay with him during my visit to Oxford (which I 
declined), and talked of many Church matters, but especially the 



1 66 A CliaDipion of the Cross. [1867-72, 

Pan- Anglican, and its proposing to retain the word ' Protestant ' 
and endorse only four instead of six general councils, besides 
setting up our own communion as the model for all the rest of 
Christendom. Promised to call at 9 a.m. next day. 

" September 19th, Thursday. — Up at 6 a.m., and resumed my 
wanderings around the city by walking down High Street to Mag- 
dalen College, which I inspected closely on the outside, the gates 
not being open to strangers till eight t)' clock. Walked across 
the bridge over the Cherwell. Wondered at the shallowness and 
weediness of the water (worse in the Isis, however, at the end of 
the Broad Walk), which must make boating exercise ticklish 
business. Found the small door ajar and went in, going through 
several courts and getting into the gardens, when the porter 
overtook me and turned me back. Followed Long Wall Street 
to Holywell Church, which is a perfect picture of an English 
country church. Thence up the 'Back Way,' getting a very 
fine general view of a large part of the city. Doubled on my 
course and went up Holywell Street and Broad Street to the 
Turl, and so to breakfast. At 9 a.m. called on Dr. Pusey again, 
who had been up since 6.30 and had received letters from Bish- 
ops present at the Preliminary, which worried him still more. 
He said that if the Bishops would only let things alone and not 
make them any worse than they were, the Catholic party could 
be kept in hand ; but if they would assume the odious term 
Protestant (which could only mean protesting against the ' Cath- 
olic ' Church), and would throw over two General Coun- 
cils hitherto universally received, he could not be answera- 
ble for the consequences. Went with him at ten o'clock to the 
cathedral, and after Matins returned ^\-ith him to his house and 
bade him good-by, declining a warm invitation to return to 
lunch. Resumed my attempts to see the various colleges, etc. 
At St. Mary's Church looked in, but found Divine Service go- 
ing on, and left at once. Went on to the site of the new Keble 
College, nearly opposite the New Museum. Thence to Parker's 
bookstore, where I spent nearly an hour refreshing my memory 
as to the Acts of the 5th and 6th General Councils. Visited the 
Martyrs' Memorial, near St. Mary Magdalen Church, Balliol 
College, Worcester College and beautiful gardens, with ponds ; 
then down a little street to the north, running east and west to 
St. John's College and beautiful gardens, then to Jesus College, 
and Exeter, where I was specially delighted with the new work ; 
the chapel being entirely modern in the highest style, with stone 



1867-72.] Life of Jo Jin Henry Hopkins. 16^ 

ceiling beautifully groined. Looked in at Lincoln College and 
the schools, and walked through two stories of the immense 
Bodleian Library, seeing several scholars sitting quietly in their 
alcoves, and working away as if there were no outside world to 
trouble them. Dr. Pusey does most of his writing here, having 
an alcove of his own, and being one of the Curators of the Li- 
brary. Peeped in at the Radcliffe, and then went up Market 
Street to photographers in Cornmarket, and leaving my marine 
glass behind me on the counter. Lost the four o'clock train in 
consequence, but took the five o'clock, which was twenty minutes 
late. Telegraphed to Archdeacon Wordsworth from Reading 
that I could not arrive in time for dinner. Reached our hotel 
shortly after father had left for the Archdeacon's, having waited 
for me. Went at ten o'clock for father, and waited for more 
than half an hour, walking up and down in the cloisters till he 
came out with other Bishops from the Archdeacon's. Showed 
him all my photographs of Oxford before going to bed. 

"September 20th, Friday. — Went to the bankers and drew 
-£^0. In the afternoon went with father to the British Muse- 
um, where we met Bishop Talbot (of Indiana). In the evening 
called on Archdeacon Wordsworth, and spent a very pleasant 
evening. The Archdeacon gave me a Black Letter edition of 
the English Prayer-Book, 1640, with Sternbold and Hopkins' 
Psalms, formerly belonging to the poet Wordsworth. 

''September 21st, Saturday. — Started at 9 a.m. for Rochester 
(fine_ views of castle and cathedral before reaching station), 
where I visited the cathedral — the meanest I have yet seen in 
England, except Chester, and with less of good modern work 
than even Chester — and the castle, which is a superb twin. 
Bishop - Gundolph was a great builder. After getting pho- 
tographs, as usual, started at 3 p.m. for Canterbury, where I 
arrived at five o'clock, getting fine afternoon views of the cathe- 
dral before arriving at the station. Went immediately from the 
Royal Fountain Hotel to the cathedral, which the verger w^as 
just closing for the night. Persuaded him to show me round — 
which he did very completely before going to his tea. After I 
was locked out of the cathedral, spent an hour in roaming all 
round the outside, and up and down every walk and archway 
and court and gate that was accessible, and all round by the 
King's School, and the Norman staircase, etc. After dark 
stopped at the photographer's in the cathedral yard (not the best), 
and got the best he had, with two 'Guides.' After supper. 



1 68 A Chanipioji of the Cross. [1867-72. 

went to Drury's (the best), and got better photographs and 
Stanley's book of Canterbury Memorials. Read my Guides and 
book till midnight. 

'•September 22d, Sunday (13th after Trinity). — At breakfast 
the Rev. W. D. Walker, of St. James the Less, New York, came 
into the coffee-room, to our mutual surprise and satisfaction. 
Went together all day : at ten o'clock to the cathedral, where we 
looked about a little before service. Choral service very well 
done — choir large and well trained, but surplices rather dirty. 
Congregation fair for a cathedral. The Ter Sanctus was sung for 
an Introit. The Rev. Mr. Bailey, Warden of St. Augustine's 
(the first person who has ever held office both in the cathedral 
and in the monastery of St. Augustine, so great was the jealousy 
and hatred between the two adjoining corporations) preached an 
excellent sermon on the ninth commandment. After the sermon 
nearly everybody, choir included, went out, and Holy Com- 
munion was celebrated by Archdeacon Harrison without one 
note of music, and to only one sparse railful of the faithful ! 
After dinner went to St. Martin's, looking all round it, both 
before and after service — the visible cradle of the English 
Church. Saw the font in which (so they say) King Ethelbert 
was baptized by St. Augustine of Canterbury. (Fine view of 
the cathedral from the church-yard — Irish crosses.) Walked by 
St. Augustine's on our return after service, and thence to the 
rapid little river Stour, and the Abbot's Mill on it, and up the 
lane to the railway bridge, from which we had a charming view 
of the cathedral. Thence back by the Stour to the West Gate 
and out to St. Dunstan's. Returning, looked into an old hospi- 
tal for three old women, old churches, and various other pieces 
of antiquity. Thence to the promenade along the inside of the 
old city walls its whole length, ascending the mound for another 
fine view of the cathedral. Then round by the new St. Mary 
Bradin, which we looked into, to our hotel, pretty well tired. 
After tea we went to St. Augustine's, entered the old wooden 
gate (so low that one must bow going in), were kindly received 
by the warden and subwarden, attended the 9 p.m. service in 
the chapel, the great body of the students filling the stalls along 
both sides of the chapel, being in surplices ; and " East Indians, 
Parsees, and Negroes being well represented. The singing was 
good, the Psalms were sung to Anglican chants, and the Can- 
ticles to Gregorians, well done, and refreshing to hear. The 
chapel is a beautiful one. 



1867-72.] Life of Jo Jin Henry Hopkins, 169 

"September 23d, Monday. — At 7 a.m. we were up and on 
our way to the cathedral for the effects of morning hght in the 
interior. Had some difficulty in getting in ; but succeeded, 
the verger's pretty little daughter opening the outer iron door 
for us. Spent nearly an hour, especially in watching the effects 
of the light on the splendid old stained glass at the eastern end — 
the finest old glass I have yet seen. Punctually at eight o'clock 
we were at St. Augustine's again, to breakfast by invitation in 
the hall. Were seated on the dais with the stibwarden and 
other teachers, at a cross-table ; two longitudinal tables below 
accommodating the students. The grace and the returning of 
thanks were both in Latin, with Gloria Pati^i and some verses 
from the sixty-seventh Psalm — all in Latin. We were thor- 
oughly shown round the place, first by the subwarden and then 
by the warden — the library and its crypt, Ethelbert's Tower (so- 
called), the small remains of the grand old Abbey Church, the 
Students' Cloisters, and all the new buildings. Went with the 
warden to Archdeacon Harrison's for an order to see the tri- 
foria, who gave it to me at once, saying he well remembered 
father on his visit in 1839. Attended Matins at the cathedral, 
the service being very well sung. Afterward ascended the 
triforia to\ver. Fine views from the lantern of the central 
tower, and from the triforium of transept. Enormous amount of 
tree-twigs on the steps brought in by the birds. Took a final 
look at the crypt, which is the highest, finest, and most exten- 
sive in England. Saw the little portion of it which is used by 
the French Protestants, and has been since the time of Eliza- 
beth. They are very few now — only twenty or thirty. They 
meet only on Sunday afternoons, and have a sermon only once a 
month. . On leaving the cathedral precincts, tried to find the re- 
mains of the old Chequer Inn, but people living on the very 
site ' did not know ' anything about it. Barely time for lunch 
and to catch the train. Lovely day of purely English weather 
and atmosphere, and the rolling country was exquisite in its 
eff"ects. Fine views of Rochester Castle in passing. 

Walked over to Lambeth Palace with Bishop Quintard. Went 
to Archdeacon Wordsworth's in the evening, to find out what 
the Colonial Bishops had agreed on, and had much pleasant talk 
wdth him and the Bishop of St. Andrews. 

"September 24th, Tuesday. — Day of meeting of the Council 
of Lambeth. Went over with father and left him at the door. 
Found Dr. Caswall waiting for me at the gate, with the Rev. Dr. 



I/O A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

Keene, Mrs. Eames, and a number of other Americans, clergy 
and laity : all highly indignant that nobody could get in. Re- 
turned to London Bridge, and took penny-boat on the Thames 
to Lambeth, where I walked up and down before the inner gate- 
way half an hour until father came down, when we walked to our 
hotel over Lambeth Bridge. Poor day's work to begin with in 
the Council. 

" September 25th, Wednesday. — Walked to Lambeth with 
father across Lambeth Bridge and returned the same way. Spent 
the whole day in my own room, until I went over to meet him 
at 5.30. Better day's work in the Council ! Father made sev- 
eral telling speeches, which gave great satisfaction to the true- 
hearted, and helped to raise the tone of the whole assembly. In 
the evening went over to Archdeacon Wordsworth's to borrow 
for father a book containing the Act of Elizabeth referring to the 
Four General Councils. Found that he had gone to Fulham to 
dine with the Bishop of London ; but the Bishop of St. Andrew's 
and Mrs. Wordsworth and her son and daughters kindly helped 
me in the search, and I soon came back with the first volume 
(there are five) of Lawn's ' Ecclesiastical Statutes at Large ' 
(Rivington's, 1847), which gave us what we wanted. 

'' September 26th, Thursday. — Walked over Lambeth Bridge 
with father to the Palace. After returning to my hotel with the 
Bishop of Louisiana, went to Archdeacon Wordsworth's for him, 
and then over to Lambeth again with a package for him. Father 
has done his duty nobly in the Colenso matter ; but the Arch- 
bishop's bargain beforehand with the Bishop of St. David's was 
too strong for him. The General Councils are recognized, and a 
Pastoral free from objection is to be issued. Not a bad day's 
work on the whole, but with one bad blot, that * will not out. ' 
Spent the evening in our room pleasantly, with the Bishops of 
Alabama and Louisiana, and Dean Hines. 

'' September 27th, Friday. — Accompanied father to Lambeth 
Palace over the Lambeth Bridge. Called for father at 2 p.m., 
and had to wait in the great drawing-room of Lambeth for more 
than two hours, chatting with the Rev. Mr. Lingham, incumbent 
of Lambeth parish church, and the Rev. Mr. Lloyd, Chaplain of 
the Archbishop. Heard the concluding Gloi-ia in Excelsis sung 
by the Bishops in Council, at the end. Was present when they 
were all photographed at the door of Lambeth Palace. Father 
and I were walking home to our hotel when, after having crossed 
Lambeth Bridge, we were overtaken by cabs sent after the 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 171 

Bishops by the S. P. G., to catch them for the Conversazione in 
St. James's Hall, where a great crowd of people had been wait- 
ing for over three hours ! Father was placed in one cab and 1 
in another. Was directed to an upper seat behind the Bishops, 
the Archbishop presiding, and father being the first called on to 
speak. After the meeting was over, went to our rooms for a few 
minutes to refit, and then out to Fulham Palace to dine with the 
Bishop of London (Tait) and a very large company, probably 
fifty or sixty, among them the Bishop of Oxford (Wilberforce). 
After the cloth was removed and the ladies had retired, the 
Bishop of London called father to one side of him and the 
Bishop of Oxford to the other. Was introduced to the Bishop 
of Oxford by his request ; and he took me aside to a vacant sofa 
where we had quite a nice long talk all by ourselves. Evening 
Prayer in the chapel before we left, the chapel being beautifully 
decorated in color, with embroidered altar-cloth, and in seem- 
ingly ritualistic style : Mrs. Tait (who is cousin to the Bishop of 
Oxford and a thorough Churchwoman, and has read father's 
' Law of Ritualism,' and thanked him for it) playing the organ 
herself. Reached our rooms very late, and both of us very 
weary. 

" September 28th, Saturday. — Rose at 6 a.m., and wrote for 
the C/mrch Jouiiial. 

''At 9 A.M. went with father to breakfast with the Rev. Mr. 
Lingham, next door to Lambeth Churchyard, where we met 
again the Bishop of New Zealand and his son. Took seat in the 
congregation (after seeing father to the Palace drawing-room), 
and was present at the closing services. .Afterward lunched with 
Canon Hawkins. At 4.55 started for Brighton, where father 
stopped - with the Rt. Hon. Colin Lindsay, President of the 
E. C. U., who was unfortunately too ill with bronchitis to be 
visible. I stopped across the street from Sillwood (Mr. Lindsay's 
place) with the Rev. Mr. Beaulands, incumbent of St. Michael's, 
etc., taking my meals at Mr. Lindsay's. At 8.30 attended a 
magnificent service at St. Michael's (the Rev. T. W. Perry being 
one of the curates). Procession, ' We march, we march to vic- 
tory,' all down the church and up the middle alley. Gregorian 
Psalter and Canticles (Helmore), and most elaborate Anthem 
from Mozart. Lights, flowers, gorgeous vestments, congregation 
crowded to the utmost. Vigil of St. Michael and All Angels, and 
the parochial Feast of the Dedication. Vested in white dalmatic, 
with apparels of red, embroidered beautifully, I sat at father's 



1/2 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

right, a deacon similarly vested being on his left. The episco- 
pal throne was on the north side of the chancel, on a step, and 
with a canopy over it. A variety of richly embroidered copes 
was used, acolytes in red cassocks, etc. Church exquisitely 
adorned: the permanent decoration in marbles, paintings, etc., 
being very rich. Sermon by Canon Fortescue, of Perth. 

"September 29th, St. Michael and All Angels, Sunday. — At- 
tended early celebration at 8 a.m., two previous celebrations hav- 
ing taken place at 6 and 7 a.m. Found very large numbers in 
attendance. High celebration at 10.30, preceded by Matins 
(Litany omitted till afternoon). Procession, but not all the way 
down the church. Exquisite service, Gregorian Canticles and 
Psalter. Creed from Gounod, parts of it remarkably fine ; Ter 
Sanctus, ditto ; and Gtoria in Excehis ; but all very long. 
P^ather preached a very brief sermon, and gave the Absolution and 
Benediction. A very large number of communicants — nearly 
four hundred during the day. Vestments magnificent, especially 
the cloth-of-gold chasuble (Mr. Perry, celebrant) splendidly em- 
broidered and the dalmatic to match. Exquisite jewelled chal- 
ice, with niello in the foot, and another with engraving of the 
heavenly Jerusalem on the round foot. No incense ; but I saw 
the censer and the incense boat and spoon, and know that it is 
coming. In the afternoon walked with Mr. Perry and father 
down to the pier, and along the sea-shore street, and inspected 
St. Paul's, the parent of the seven High Church parishes now in 
Brighton, and several more in prospect. Then went to the four 
o'clock Litany and catechetical service in St. Michael's. At 
7 P.M. another magnifk;ent evening service, crowded to the ut- 
most, with procession all the way down the church. ' Brightly 
gleams our banner. ' The Anthem of last night repeated : boys 
singing up to A and B§ with truth, clearness, and power truly 
wonderful. Sermon by the Rev. Mr. Rivington, one of the cu- 
rates of All Saints, Margaret Street, who paid a high compliment to 
father in the middle of it. All the three sermons were extempo- 
raneous. Mr. Rivington is a son of the London publisher, and 
a very earnest and effective preacher. 

*' September 30th, Monday. — Attended low celebration at 
7.30 A.M. The extra services are to last through the octave, all 
the offertories going toward the enlargement of the church, which 
is greatly needed. Wrote editorial for the Chiwch Journal. 
Lunched at Mr. Lindsay's, where I had taken all my meals. In 
the afternoon left for Newhaven, where I finished my article in 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 1 73 

the hotel on the wharf, and we took supper and spent the 
night. 

''October ist, Tuesday. — After breakfast went on board the 
Alexandra for Dieppe. Magnificent views of chalky cliffs to the 
east as we left the harbor, culminating in Beachy Head ; and to 
the west side also, of similar general appearance. Charming 
bright, breezy weather. More than fifty vessels in sight at a 
time. Dieppe was reached at about 3 p.m. French coast almost 
exactly like the English, chalky cliffs, splendidly perpendicular. 
Dieppe is in a depression interrupting the chalky line of precipice. 
The precipices at the left seemed to be pierced with a large num- 
ber of caves. Entered through masonry piers, and passed into a 
basin, turning to the right. The castle on the acclivity rising to 
the west of the city, now usc^d for a prison. Large square tower 
in the centre of the city, suppose it to be the cathedral. Delayed 
an hour and a half by custom-house, etc. Started by rail for 
Rouen at 4.20 p.m. Beautiful scenery, yet not very bold. Mul- 
titudes of tall and very slim poplars. Mounds with one or two 
rows of trees planted on them, separating fields. Roads only 
wide enough for one cart, with a row of tall trees on each side, 
planted close together. Brook with both sides made parallel with 
masonry, so as to look exactly like a canal without a towpath. 
Village churches mostly poor, cruciform, with tower and low, 
ugly spire at the intersection. Many factories and tall chimneys. 

''Arrived at Rouen at dusk. Went to the Hotel de France. 
Ran down at once to see the cathedral, and went along the nar- 
row streets at either side, and inside also, the whole length of the 
nave, to the locked iron doors. Ascertained that there would be 
service at 7.30 p.m. After tea, went down with father, and at- 
tended the service, in the Lady chapel. Father and I took chairs 
on the left side, furthest back, next the railing. By and by a 
priest and acolyte came in. The priest entered an ugly low, 
square desk on the left side of the chapel, about half-way up, and 
led in what I suppose was a litany to the Saints and to the Blessed 
Virgin, all whose titles were repeated in full amplification, the 
people, about one hundred — containing only one man besides us, 
responding with much apparent devotion. The style was rapid. 
He then read a brief exhortation in French, and then (the aco- 
lyte having entered with the incense) proceeded to the altar, 
when the Benediction of the Host was given. The people then 
departed quietly. The effect in the grand old cathedral of im- 
mense height (eighty-nine and one-half feet to the ceiling in- 



174 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

side), and the bold lights and shadows of the few gaslights, were 
very fine. After seeing father home, sallied out, and went down 
to the Grand Promenade by the river side. River glancing with 
many lights. Trees of the promenade cut away underneath. 
Bought Murray's and photographs, and took another glance at the 
cathedral on my way to the hotel. 

" October 2d, Wednesday. — Visited St. Ouen, with its beau- 
tiful grounds and statue of Rollo ; then the Musee des Antiquites ; 
then St. Maclou ; then the bridge, and general view. After 
lunch, started for Paris, where we arrived after four and one- 
half hours' ride through a charming country, playing hide-and- 
go-seek with the Seine all along. Took Dr. and Mrs. Evans 
by surprise, and were received with a most cordial welcome, 
and any quantity of inquiries about the good folk in Burling- 
ton. 

'' October 3d, Thursday. — Received a pleasant call from the 
Rev. Mr. Lamson in the morning ; and after lunch he drove out 
with us in Dr. Evans' carriage (I having before lunch had a very 
pleasant walk with Mrs. Evans in the Bois de Boulogne) and 
saw Notre Dame, and La Sainte Chapelle, wdth its crypt, with 
glimpses of the Hotel de Ville, Tour de St. Jacques, Tuileries, 
Louvre, etc. Saw the Palais Royal on our way back. Pleasant 
little dinner party : the Rev. Mr. Killick, of St. Clement Danes, 
Strand, Mr. and Mrs. Delano (Twenty-ninth Street, New York), 
and after dinner the Rev. Mr. Ward (of the Anglo-American 
Chapel), and Major Hugh Scott, of Gala. 

" October 4th, Friday. — Went down town in search of the 
friends, but could not find them. After lunch drove out with 
Mrs. Evans and father to the Pantheon, St. Etienne du Mont, 
the new Trinity Church (unfinished), etc. 

'' October 5th, Saturday. — Went to the exposition with Mrs. 
Evans and father, and remained after they had gone home. 
Lunched there, and in the rain took a cab to photographer's 
under Grand Hotel du Louvre, where I spent the afternoon. 
After dinner went with father, Dr. and Mrs. Evans, and the Rev. 
Mr. Lamson, to the Russian Church to the evening service. Mag- 
nificent voices, especially the basses, the deacon intoning on A 
and B, and another going down to 



c@: 



1867-72] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 175 

Was introduced with father to the Abbe Guettee and the Russian 
Archpriest. 

'' October 6th, Sunday. Sixteenth after Trinity. — To the 
Russian Liturgy at eleven o'clock, which was admirably done, but 
the Entrances were both rather straggling. The vestments mag- 
nificent, and the music exquisite. The peculiar architecture of 
the building, equally effective by day or night. Then went to 
the American Church, Rue Bayard, and assisted in the minis- 
tration of the Cup, father having preached. In the afternoon I 
preached there from i Peter iii. 18, a brief extempore sermon, 
the Rev. Messrs. Lamson and Duffield taking the service. Went 
home with Mr. Adams, and dined with him. In the evening 
(raining) went to the Anglo-American Chapel, Avenue Rapp, 
near the Exposition, where dear father preached on " I said, I 
will confess my sins unto the Lord, etc. ' ' I said the Creed and 
prayers on monotone, the Rev. Mr. Root beginning the service, 
and the Rev. Messrs. Weaver and Wade taking the lessons. 
Sat up till one o'clock talking with Dr. Evans. 

" October 7th, Monday. — At home all morning (raining) lay- 
ing out route for Rheims, etc. In afternoon went down for 
photographs of cathedrals and found very few, plodding about 
from one place to another, without any success. Parisians seem 
to care nothing for their finest ecclesiastical edifices, such as in 
England are found everywhere. Rather disgusted with a day's 
failure. In the evening dined at the Rev. Mr. Lamson's, with 
father and Dr. and Mrs. Evans ; and after dinner, the Abbe 
Guettee, the Russian Archpriest, Mr. Adams, the Rev. Mr. 
Gardner, President F. A. P. Barnard, Mrs. Barnard, and others 
came in. No talk of any theological interest possible. On 
leaving, took cab (leaving Mr. Adams at the Maison Printemps, 
by the way) for the Gare de Strasbourg, and the 11.35 train for 
Rheims. No sleeping conveniences on French trains. Arrived 
at Epernay at 4 a.m., and remained locked up in the salle 
d'attente for nearly two hours, to sleep (if possible) sitting on a 
hard wooden bench, with an alarm-bell (like those of our alarm 
clocks) ringing all the while in the next room. Arrived at 
Rheims at 7 a.m. on a misty, cloudy, rainy morning. Walked 
up the narrow crooked streets (with little or no sidewalks) till I 
found the cathedral, and went all round it — west, north, east, 
and south, and even into the archbishop's gardens, and then in- 
side, and carefully examined all the stained glass, which is mostly 
old and abundant, and very good. Having thus spent more than 



1/6 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

two hours, went to the Lion d'Or, just opposite the west front, 
and got breakfast. After breakfast, went to the Church of St. 
Remi, which has much good Norman work, partly outside, but 
still more inside. Remarkably good proportions, and fine gen- 
eral effect. Went up through the triforia, which are very large 
and roomy (each bay divided into two), paved throughout, and 
raised in many parts above the line visible from below. Bought 
full stock of photographs, such as were to be had. But none of 
the north, south, or eastern elevations, the latter of which was 
as peculiar for its big and quaint animals around the throat of 
the apse (crowning the parapet in place of pinnacles), as the west 
front for its hippopotamus, rhinoceros, crocodiles, etc. The new 
work (under Viollet le Due) is good, but too fine — too mince. 
It lacks the vigor at a distance which the old work has. After 
dinner returned to the study of the magnificent abundance of 
old stained glass in the cathedral, the west rosace, in the after- 
noon sun, being the most marvellously splendid effect of stained 
glass I ever saw in my life. It is fully up to one's ideal. As- 
cended the triforia and the southwest tower to the top, the open 
staircase being in the northeast angle of the tower inside the 
slender open arches. jSIagnificent view under the arcades of fly- 
ing buttresses. The open towers at each flank of the transepts 
floored inside in a valley. Found the triforia walled-up at the 
further side of the passage to give greater strength. Magnificent 
views of the interior from the galleries at the west end. After 
supper, stole a final look at the north transept, and saw the moon 
streaming dimly through one of the stained windows, the great 
body of the church being buried in gloom, except from the light 
given by two candles near the door. At 6.40 p.m. left for Laon, 
where I arrived at about eleven o'clock. This ancient city is 
situated on the top of a hill several hundred feet high. As it was 
chilly, and the omnibus long in starting, I left it and went afoot 
up the hill, the ascent for foot-passengers being straight ahead, up 
a steep path diversified with two or three hundred stone steps, 
the widening prospect of streets of lamps below being more and 
more interesting, and the appearance of the cathedral towers — 
the cathedral being on the highest part of the hill — growing 
more and more singular the nearer the approach. At the top 
of the steps we were not yet at the top of the hill, but met the 
winding coach-road, and turning to the right followed it till it 
passed under an arched gateway, and turned to the left winding 
among narrow crooked streets, to La Hure, a hotel where I spent 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. lyy 

the night. First, however, I explored further along the crooked, 
dark, and narrow streets, till I found the cathedral, with the 
moonlight resting on its western front, now almost completely 
restored. After examining the western and northern fronts by 
the dim light, I returned to La Hure well tired, and gave direc- 
tions to be called at half-past six in the morning. 

"October 9th, Wednesday. — By seven o'clock I was at the 
cathedral, which I examined with fresh interest by day. It was 
interesting in two respects. First, it was the 
07ily one I had ever seen which contemplated 



seven towers, one at the centre of the cross and [J—' ^— F] 
t2vo others at the west end, and two at the end 



of each transept. Of these A, B, C, D, were c 



a. 



built complete, and all nearly alike. The cen- 
tre is rudimentary only, and the two eastern /^[9"Q^ 
towers of the transepts have only the founda- 
tion and the first stage complete. Magnificent views from above 
over a large extent of country, but no water. 

" The west front abounds with aiiimals. The hipj^opotamus 
and rhinoceros, and two crocodiles appear, with ever so many 
smaller animals, sixteen great stone oxen looking out of the open- 
ings in the turrets of the towers. As to internal effect, found it 
the only French cathedral with a square east end, and the only 
one where the central tower is used as a lantern, letting in a flood 
of light from above. In all other cases the vaulting there is carried 
through similar to the rest of the roof. Many queer old build- 
ings near it, and the bishop's palace as usual turned into a palais 
de justice. [Laon is not now a bishop's see, having been sup- 
pressed by the concordat of 1801, and never restored, as a few 
others were during the reign of Louis XVIII. — C. F. S.] It com- 
manded splendid views from the brow of the hill, looking down 
on that staircase. After breakfast, walked down again to the 
station, descending the stairs, having got but very few and un- 
satisfactory photographs. Lunched at Tergniers, and arrived at 
Amiens at about 3 p.m. Went at once to the glorious cathedral, 
but was disappointed in the western towers, which are but little 
higher than the roof-ridge of the nave, and also in thtfleche, 
which is of wood covered with lead. But the height and majes- 
tically powerful structure, with its double guard of flying but- 
tresses, defies description. Went all round the outside, except 
where the bishop's gardens prevent access on the northeast. 
Then ascended, with a company, the northwest tower, went out 



178 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

on the galleries of the front, and found the figures of the kings 
to be over fourteen feet high I — a mistake, because it dwarfs all 
the rest of the building. Found that the apex of the wooden 
roof is about forty feet higher than the stone vault, which last is 
one hundred and forty feet above the pavement. Went between 
the two (looking down a trap-door to the pavement below !) and 
ascended the fleche as high as the steps would take us. Then 
down, and on the leads above and below, on south and north 
sides, then inside to the triforia, which are windows, and got 
splendid views of the interior, with the three great rosaces, west, 
north, and south, and of the whole length of nave and transepts. 
Descending, studied the effects from below, the alto relievos in 
transepts and around the choir, remarkably fine. The enormous 
height, yet majestic strength were a feast. Bought photographs 
at the verger's ; but very incomplete. Nothijig of east, south, 
or north elevations ! and such a splendid cathedral ! Oh, the 
barbarians ! and I told them so ! Went to the Gare through the 
crooked streets at the north side to get a view thence. Left at 6 
P.M. for Creil, where at 9.30 p.m. I got some dinner. At 11 
P.M. arrived at Beauvais, Hotel du Cygne, in the rain — raining 
all the evening, and so got no sight of the cathedral that night. 

"October loth, Thursday. — At the cathedral before 7 a.m., 
and a chilly, cloudy, almost rainy morning. Examined it care- 
fully all round, in the crooked, narrow streets. The height is 
wonderful (it is thirteen feet higher than Amiens), but everything 
else has been sacrificed to that. There is no nave, or tower, or 
spire. The bells are hung al fresco over the crossing of the 
transept, and rung from the pavement of the church by long 
ropes. Did not ascend the triforia, because of a High Mass 
which was sung, and kept the verger otherwise occupied until it 
was too late. The celebrant was attended by six boys in cottas 
over red cassocks. The chorus was only two men, who sang 
plainsong in unison with remarkably fine bass voices (not so fine, 
however, as the Russians). One old ecclesiastic sat in a stall, 
and took but little part in the service. The congregation — be- 
sides a school of some thirty or forty girls in charge of some re- 
ligieuses — not half a dozen persons. Worse in all respects than 
daily choral service in the English cathedrals. The impression 
of height is wonderful in this cathedral ; but even now beams are 
inserted horizontally between choir-piers and those of the aisles 
to prevent bulging. The carvings in oak on the north door are 
exquisite; south door later. Left at 11.05 a.m. without break- 



1867-72.] Life of Jo Jin Henry Hopkins. 179 

fast, taking a last look at the cathedral from the train. Got a 
few photographs before leaving. Hasty lunch at Creil. At 
Paris at 2 p.m. After dinner related my experience and showed 
my photographs to Father and Dr. and Mrs. Evans. Packed up 
before going to bed. 

''October itth, Friday. — Breakfasted early, and after a very 
warm and affectionate parting from Dr. and Mrs. Evans started 
in the 7.45 a.m. train for London, Dr. Evans accompanying us 
to the Gare de St. Lazare. Charming morning: calm, and 
bright sunshine, but the morning mists spread a veil over the 
whole remoter landscape, heightening beautifully the effects of 
the aerial perspective. Exquisite little views as we played with 
the Seine all the way to Rouen, the autumnal tints beginning to 
add variety to the foliage. From Rouen the weather was cloudy, 
smoky, and dull. The passage across the Channel from Dieppe 
to Newhaven was still more so, and chilly besides, so as to take 
away all pleasure of watching the landscape : but though long 
(seven hours) *there was very little motion in the boat. Spent 
the time mostly in the cabin, studying Murray's France, and 
finding out something concerning the cathedrals of France which 
I did not visit. Found it a very interesting study. Landed at 
dark at Newhaven, in the rain. Took tea there, changed our 
French money to English, and started at 7.20 for London. At 
Croydon one of the gentlemen with us in the same carriage 
entered into conversation with us, proving to be a Rev. Mr. 
Nicholson, formerly a curate of Mr. Denton, and who went with 
him and received communion wdth him in Servia. He was re- 
turning from Paris, where he had gone the whole length of the 
city in the rain on Sunday night to hear Father preach, through 
admiration of his ' Law of Ritualism.' He had a friend, a Pro- 
fessor or one of the clergy at St. Sulpice, who was a Galilean of 
the Galileans, and had some years ago done all he could to further 
the establishment of Mr. Gurney's chapel in Paris as a represent- 
ative of the Catholic movement in England, and to help on the 
same movement among Romanists in France. That friend also 
told him that, notwithstanding the efforts of the Pope to make 
the Roman use supplant the Galilean, the Church of St. Eus- 
tache (or St. Eugene, I forget which) was the 07ily one in the 
Diocese of Paris where the Roman use was thoroughly followed ! 
Arrived in London at about 9 p.m. and went to the Westminster 
Palace Hotel again, rooms 178 and 180. 

" October 12 th, Saturday. — Took Father to the photographer, 



i8o A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

Walker, 64 Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, and had him taken 
in his robes, in several positions. Was taken myself also, the 
photographer insisting on it. Showed Father All Saints, Mar- 
garet Street, where we met Mr. Butterfield, the architect, and the 
Rev. Mr. Richards, and were shown over the house kept by the 
Sisters. Laid in a stock of London and other photograplis. In 
the evening showed my new purchases to Father, and then read 
to him out of the papers (^Guardian, Church Times, and Church 
Rcviciu) I had purchased, articles touching the Pan-Anglican, 
and the Church Congress at Wolverhampton, till nearly mid- 
night. 

"October 13th, Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. — Attended 
early low celebration at Westminster Abbey, 8 a.m. About a 
dozen were present. It was the day of St. Edward the Confes- 
sor, whose shrine — the only unviolated shrine in England — is in 
the abbey, east of the altar. Went to the Temple Church for 
Morning Prayer. Full choral service, the Tersanctus for an In- 
troif, and choir, music, and nearly the whole large congregation 
went out before the Holy Communion, leaving not two dozen 
persons to receive. Miserably cold and chilly — cathedral fashion. 
The inside of the building, though refitted and polychromed only 
a few years ago at great expense, is very dingy and dirty, and full 
of smoke. The tombs of the old crusaders — dark effigies lying 
full length nearly on the level of the floor — were the most inter- 
esting things in the church to me. The stained glass was partly 
too dark ; and the rest, to give light, was nearly ^^-hite glass, 
which killed the effect of nearly all the rest. The round part of 
the building is very interesting. It is in that that the old crusa- 
ders lie. In the afternoon went to St. Barnabas, Pimlico, and 
heard some very good Gregorian chanting. The children were 
very satisfactorily catechized. The stained glass at the east 
and west ends was remarkably good. The rest of the church 
was dark and dingy, and full of smoke, but in admirable style, 
with a rood screen, and with an earnest, hearty congregation of 
the right sort. Clergy houses and schools surround the church 
on three sides. Had hard work to find my way to the church, 
being misdirected, and the whole day being very foggy and some- 
what rainy, like yesterday. At 7 p.m. went to All Saints, Margaret 
Street. Found it so crowded ten minutes before the service 
began, notwithstanding the rain, that I had to stand all through 
the evening, in a place where nothing in the chancel could be seen. 
Music delightful : pure Gregorians, sung by a large body of 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 181 

men's voices, and so unitedly that the words were as distinct as 
if spoken by only one person. A brilliant anthem was admi- 
rably done, with (imitation) harp accompaniment. An earnest 
and powerful extempore sermon was preached by Mr. Rivington, 
who spoke in the highest and most hopeful terms of the work of 
the Pan-Anglican, and announced the formation of a new associ- 
ation, under the wardenship of Dr. Pusey, to pray more earnestly 
for the reunion of Christendom. Saw the Rev. Mr. Richards 
afterward, who gave me the printed slips concerning the new as- 
sociation. By the way, the Sisters were present at the service in 
a body. There dx^ forty of them in all. They have an orphan- 
age of forty or fifty orphans, a training-school for girls to be put 
out to service, a dispensary for the poor, an asylum for incurables 
who come to them to live and be nursed as long as possible, and 
then to die and be buried ; and another hospital for convales- 
cents. For the latter alone they are putting up a building in the 
country which will cost about ^350,000 of our money. And 
all this is only a part of the work done entirely by one parish — 
ritualistic, of course. Their chapel is a perfect little gem ; but 
all the rest of their establishment is as simple and plain as in the 
cottages of the poor. Walked home to the hotel alone, in the 
rain. 

'' October 14th, Monday. — Went with Father to Mason's to be 
photographed again, in several positions. Then to Masters', who 
agrees to collect the Church fournal bills for five per cent. , and 
then to Hart & Son for chancel furniture for St. Paul's, Burling- 
ton. Packed up and left London (after copying Father's letter 
to Dean Stanley), in the 2.45 train for Liverpool, where we ar- 
rived at 8.20 P.M. and went to Queen's Hotel. Dismal English 
weather — fog, smoke, and rain. 

''October 15th, Tuesday. — Wrote communication for the 
Guardian, and a number of letters, to Dr. Pusey, the Right 
Hon. Colin. Lindsay, and others. Copied Father's letter to the 
Archbishop of Canterbury. At 4 p.m. went down to the wharf 
to wait for the tender to take us off to the vessel, the Minnesota, 
which was lying in the stream. She was long coming, but at 
length we were safe on board, and delighted to find that Captain 
Price, of the Chicago, had been transferred, with all his officers, 
to the Minnesota, so that we were among friends and at home at 
once. Was introduced to Mrs. Price, who was there to see her 
husband off. Got off at about 8 p.m. Beautiful lines of lights 
on the Liverpool side of the Mersey, as well as the Birkenhead 



1 82 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

side. The lighthouses and floating lights were beautiful also — 
near and brilliant, with beams of lurid light over the waters ; 
and the moon struggled out through the clouds, giving a combi- 
nation of varied lights in air and water. 

" October i6th, Wednesday. — Spent the day in the cabin, 
settling the accounts of our whole tour. Very windy and rough 
all afternoon, and hardly half a dozen passengers able to come 
to the dinner-table. Reached Queenstown after dark, in a gale, 
and the quiet on entering the harbor was very grateful. The 
tender with passengers and mails not coming out in such stormy 
weather and so late, we stayed all night in the harbor. 

"October 17th, Thursday. — Still in Queenstown Harbor. 
The tender with the Admiral, and a large crowd of steerage pas- 
sengers, came out to us at about 10 a.m., taking a long time to 
get everything on board. By that time the tide was so low, 
the channel being very narrow, that the big ship could not turn 
round to get out to sea again. Beautiful effects of changing 
sunshine and shadow on the lovely hills around the harbor. 
About the middle of the afternoon we got off, and encountered 
a stiff gale outside, in the face of which we made slow progress. 
Very rough all night. Dear Father did not sleep at all. Arranged 
cartes de visite. 

[The voyage was a rough one. But there is nothing in the 
journal that calls for particular mention. Two Sundays were 
spent at sea ; on both of which the Church services were read 
by different clergymen on board — Bishop Hopkins preaching 
each Sunday, once.] 

" October 28th. SS. Simon and Jude. Monday. — Begin my 
forty-eighth year to-day. . . . Wrote editorials nearly all 
day. 

" October 31st, Thursday. — A bright quiet morning. Pilot 
boat No. 19 in sight. Landed at the Battery at a httle after 
3 P.M. In the total of 865 souls on board there were no sick- 
nesses, no births, and no deaths. The Rev. E. M. Pecke came 
down on the tender which took us ashore, and gave us letters 
and other news. Went up to Mr. Wells' before leaving on the 
6 P.M. boat, St. John, for Albany. 

" November ist. All Saints Day. Friday. — Breakfasted at 
the Delavan, then took rail for Whitehall, and on the new 
steamer Adirondack reached home at 5 p.m., with hearts joyful 
and thankful to God for all the mercies vouchsafed to us during 
a voyage of over 7,000 miles ! " 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 183 

Soon after the happy return to Burlington he himself went 
back to New York and settled down to hard work again. 

But early in January a telegram brought him word that his 
father, to whom he gave first and last the warmest and deepest 
love of his loving, gentle heart, was dying. The bishop, who 
had nearly completed his seventy-sixth year, had begun a mid- 
winter visitation of his diocese. Great fatigue, and exposure to 
a cold of twenty degrees below zero, after hours in an overheated 
railway car, had brought on an attack of double pneumonia, to 
which after a day or two of intense suffering, he succumbed. 
Henry received the news at an hour too late to reach the earliest 
train, and, almost frantic with impatience, he bore the delay as 
best he could, and at last reached his father's bedside, but too 
late to receive the blessing which the patriarch had longed 
to give in that supreme moment to his eldest and best-loved 
son. It was, afterward, a great satisfaction to Henry to know 
that his brother Theodore, who had ministered to his father 
in all the hours of pain as a true son by birth and in the 
priesthood, had received that blessing while the ''dear father" 
was yet alive. 

Thus, in the fulness of time, that peculiar family lost the roof- 
tree. Yet the songs that they had sung to the God they had 
been trained to love with the completest trust still arose, and 
their voices did not falter as they sang. To one who was then 
asked to share for a while the sacred circle of that family, when 
he expressed his wonder that their trust in God was stronger 
than their natural grief, it was said, with perfect simplicity and 
naturalness, " how can we help singing when we know that dear 
father is gone home ! ' ' 

The death of his father changed the current of John Henry's 
life. 

Bishop Hopkins had long before settled it that his biography 
should be written by his eldest son, and at once he began mak- 
ing arrangements for the sale of his property in the C/m7rh 
fournal. 

The paper was worth a good deal. It was by all odds the 
most influential paper in the Church, and during the '' hard 
times " it had not lowered its prices, as some others had done 
(in vain hope of keeping alive) but had even raised them. 
Men could not do without it, even if they disliked or mistrusted 
it. It had made a religious journal as interesting, and quite as 
entertaining as a secular journal ; and Hopkins was in his prime. 



1 84 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

But he sold it for what he could get, and began working on 
his father's biography. He had given his w^hole time to the 
paper, and it would probably have continued to grow under his 
strong control. But those who took it from him were, although 
strong enough for good work, unable to give as much care to 
it as he did ; and, after taking a line of policy totally opposed 
ro his, after ten years more it was merged into another, and 
since 1877 the title of Church Journal \vd& not been seen.* 

* Until Dr. Hopkins began the Church Journal in 1853, there had been 
no journalism in the Episcopal Church worthy of the name, after Dr. 
Samuel Seabury had finished his career as the editor of the Churchman. 
His work in that paper was more that of a polemic than that of a leader. 
He liked controversy, and he had a theological mind, and it was the time 
when the two parties in the Church, the High and the Low, were pitted 
against each other in a terrible struggle for supremacy. Dr. Hopkins began 
his career as a journalist at a time when, if party spirit had not been over- 
come, it was possible to give the High Church party such points of lead and 
suggestion that it could enter upon a larger life, and much as Dr. Hopkins 
liked the warfare of controversy, and few men ever had such a relish for the 
subversion of an antagonist, he soon made the Church Journal the organ of 
a brighter outlook, a clearer purpose, and a better spirit than had been be- 
fore manifested in the Episcopal Church in tliis country. In looking over 
the files of the Church Journal to-day, you discover that a great part of 
what is now a precious and priceless possession in the Church was then for 
the first time introduced by Dr. Hopkins. This was the case in regard to 
Church polity, the management of dioceses, the greater reverence in con- 
ducting the service, the improvement of the ritual, and the lifting up of the 
priestly character as well as the improvement in Church architecture. Every 
one of these interests received Dr. Hopkins' earnest support, and a great 
many of them were first suggested by him, and he kept at the work until he 
had made an impression upon the Church. His paper had a purpose, and 
it went straight to the mark, and the younger clergy, like myself, found it a 
source of inspiration in Church life and an excellent educator. It made one 
feel that the Church had something to say and to do. Then again his 
writing was always crisp and clear and strong. If at times he seemed to be 
merciless in his attitude toward his opponents, it was the triumph of princi- 
ples rather than any feeling of contempt that led him to exult in his victo- 
ries, and it was an appropriate ending of his work in journalism when he wrote 
for the magazine entitled The Church and the World, his famous articles on 
"The Decline and Fall of the Low Church Party." He was the greatest 
journalist the Church has ever known. Dr. Hopkins was a genius in jour- 
nalism, and I have always regretted that he left his work as editor to be- 
pome a parish priest. He abdicated a throne of power in order to take the 
position where hundreds of men were his equals, but while the editor of the 
Church Journal he was the most powerful man in the Episcopal Church. 
He had a mission and a message, and he made himself widely felt. From 
the beginning of that paper until he left it, he was the most influential fac- 
tor, outside of the work of Bishop White, that the Episcopal Church in this 
country has ever known, 

Kev. Julius H. Ward, 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 185 

Until 1872, that is for full four years, he was at work upon 
the life of his father. This book, which no one who would be 
informed as to the course of American Church history can do 
without, is not only a beautiful example of his devotion to his 
father's memory, but a work of real literary ability. The way 
in which he wove together such a fabric from letters, and jour- 
nals, and Church reports, and newspapers, and made of them one 
story that reads as if it were the product of his own brain is won- 
derful. Some critics thought that some of the things therein told 
ought not to have been allowed to be remembered because they 
were a disgrace to the Church. To say this, however, is to dis- 
regard the warning given by the author in his preface as to his 
purpose. " My father's life," he says, '' was one of almost unin- 
terrupted controversy ; and to omit these would be like writing 
the life of a great general and omitting all the battles. . . . " 
In regard to the subject of episcopal trials, which touches some of 
the tenderest points herein alluded to, he says: "I have de- 
tailed these things, not for the purpose of reflecting upon indi- 
viduals, but rather, as showing some parts of the process by which, 
as a National Church, we have obtained our education in this 
most difficult and disagreeable department of ecclesiastical busi- 
ness ; and as some assistance toward other National or Provin- 
cial Churches, whose work in this direction is as yet wholly or 
partially to be done." The book is much more than a life of 
Bishop Hopkins ; it is a compendium of American Church his- 
tory, and worthy, besides, of ranking high in a purely literary 
estimate of its value. But his treatment of it was characteristic. 
He brought out an edition, in costly form, of, five hundred 
copies. He sent copies to all the bishops, as well as to friends, ■ 
and to very many of those who, in the nature of things would 
have bought them, and there let his interest in the book, as a 
merchantable article, cease. During the four years of his work 
he lived at Rock Point, Burlington ; but was a missionary also 
at Vergennes, Vt., and across Lake Champlain at Essex, N. Y. 
His missionary work was not limited to the sort of people 
usually ticketed as " Church people," but reached to everybody, 
man, woman, or child, who had no one else to care for him. 
He brought into the Church at Essex, with his whole family, one 
who, twenty years afterward, during the fourteen months of Dr. 
Hopkins' last illness, gave him (though three other homes were 
freely and lovingly opened to him by kinsmen) a home, and 
tender care, and medical attention as to a father. He was in- 



1 86 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

deed a father to him, having begotten him to God ; but few men 
reahze the greatness of the gift of faith in God, and few men 
are so strong and faithful, and, at the same time, so sweet and 
simple and winning as John Henry Hopkins. Dr. E. D. Fergu- 
son and his wife and family, of Troy, must be gratefully remem- 
bered by all those who love and reverence the memory of Dr. 
Hopkins. 

He had, for a time, an appointment as missionary at Rouse's 
Point, which is in the present diocese of Albany ; and in the 
organization of the new diocese Hopkins, whose work for the 
division of the old diocese of New York had been finally crowned 
with success, which was due to him more than any one else, was 
as prominent as he felt a deacon might be. 

He did his best to secure the election of Dr. William Croswell 
Doane as first bishop, and at once began to work for a further 
division of the diocese of Albany ! In the first address made to 
his Convention by Bishop Doane, the need of this subdivision was 
insisted on, and for years, with every appearance of ultimate suc- 
cess, the movement advanced. 

In 1872, being elected rector at Plattsburgh, N. Y., Mr. 
Hopkins was induced by the bishop to consent to be ordained to 
the Priesthood, and accordingly he was ordained Priest on the 
twenty-third of June in that year ; after a service as deacon of 
twenty-two years I The same year (or the next) he received 
from Racine College, then under the care of the lamented De 
Koven, the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology. 

Dr. Hopkins' work at Plattsburgh was full of his own love and 
energy. The parish grew much stronger, and he acted, besides, 
as missionary to all that region. He could adapt himself to any 
place and to any man, and every one in all the country about who 
had no one else to care for him was cared for by Dr. Hopkins. 
His knowledge and love of the Bible, and his power of express- 
ing himself in like simple and direct language (but never falling 
into the mistake of talking down to the level of an uncultivated 
mind) were so great that he would be taken for one who had no 
other vocation than to be a missionary. The same thing was 
true of him afterward at Williamsport, Pa. At that place 
it was often said that his sermons in the parish church were 
over the heads of his people ; but when he visited a way -side 
church, called ''the Church of the Good Shepherd," far back 
among the hills, which he had himself designed many years 
before he came to live in that region, he spoke v/ith such fulness 



1867-72.] Life of y 0/171 Henry Hopkins. 187 

of scriptural knowledge, such simplicity of style, such deep ap- 
preciation of our Lord's own way which made ''the common 
people hear Him gladly," that when the news of his death 
came to those seemingly uncouth Pennsylvania Dutchmen they 
wept and said that since he who was a very angel to them was 
now dead, no one would ever love them and tell them God's love 
as he had done. 

In truth his style altered considerably as he advanced in years. 
It was always marked by a certain compactness, even when it 
was lightened up by his amazing facihty of illustration. But his 
habit of extemporaneous preaching reacted upon his wTitten style, 
and gave it a sort of speech-like quality, so that his ordinary style 
of writing, always limpid, lost something of its literary grace, 
and became more like his spoken addresses. In each he was 
facile, and each was clear as a sunbeam. The period of his resi- 
dence at Plattsburgh was a stormy one in the annals of the Ameri- 
can Church. It marked the culmination and the rapid decline 
of the warfare against Ritualism, and the setting up of the Re- 
formed Episcopal Church by Bishop Cummins and his associ- 
ates. 

From his own residence of secluded peace, John Henry Hop- 
kins sent out his frequent contributions to various pubhcations. 
He took his side with great boldness, and advocated in every 
possible way the lawfulness of ritualism, both in its doctrinal and 
its ceremonial sides. He said many things which hurt and 
wounded. His openness and complete frankness alarmed even 
those whom he was defending. He flaunted his colors jauntily in 
the very face of his strongest opponents, and exasperated afresh 
those who might have been pacified if he had been content with 
a less complete victory.* This is not the place, nor these the 

* He wrote a letter to the New York Tribune, November 24, 1877, con- 
cerning the meaning of the kindly and fraternal spirit which characterized 
the General Convention of that year, which had recently ended its session. 
In this he ran over certain salient points, and summed them all up by say- 
ing that " the result of the long war is victory all along the line for Ritualistic 
advance. And this victory is so complete that the renewal of hostilities 
hereafter is hopeless. That is wliy we have such delightful peace and 
brotherly love all round our united household." Pie continues : " Nothing 
would be further from the truth than to suppose that all this means just so 
much (.f an advance toward the Church of Rome. We have insisted that 
it was the truest loyalty to provide our army with every sort of weapon that 
is found most effective in the hands of the enemy. We insist that we are a 
true branch of the Apostolic Church from the beginning, and that every good 
thing belonging to that undivided Catholic and Apostolic Church from the 



1 88 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

times, for setting forth the history of those days dispassionately. 
One thing should be remembered, as to all this, and that is, that 
Mr. Hopkins was fighting for others, and not for himself. His 
service was simplicity itself in its form to the very end of his 
parochial work, and the form of his teaching was modelled 
after the style of the typical Anglican divines, except for its lack 
of stiffness, and for the entirely unconventional expressions which 
he never hesitated to use at any time, when it was better to use 
them than not. 

Although he was abreast of the most advanced churchmen in 
all things, at least in his sympathies, yet he never would have 
given offence, even to the most moderate of bishops ; and this, 
not from any lack of courage, or because he was double-dealing, 
but because of his patience with people, and his understanding of 
their needs and of their slowness. Very much that passes for 
courage in expression of unusual doctrines is really not courage 
at all, for it arouses little opposition, simply because it is not 
understood. 

True Church doctrines in their simplest form are as unpalatable 
to those who know and follow the Puritan tradition as the devel- 
opment of the consequences of those fundamentals. 

Moreover, John Henry Hopkins was clear-sighted enough to see 
that something greater than Ritualism was at stake, and that was the 
right of the children of the Church freely to carry out all her teach- 
ings. If the movement against Ritualism on the part of the old 
conservative High Church party had succeeded the Church would 
have been bound down to a cast-iron rigidity of worship and ways 
that would have so repressed the spiritual vigor of her life that a 
period of more than eighteenth century deadness would have en- 
sued by this time. The Ritualists took the matter into their own 
hands, and did with the Prayer-Book, while living up to its sys- 
tem with the utmost fidelity, what never would have been dreamed 
of as possible to do with it a few years ago. They acted on this 
simple principle that the Prayer-Book itself is our only law of 
worship, and that all things in it, not specifically forbidden, may 
be done or used. One simple illustration may show this. Ac- 
beginning is part of our own birthright, and we mean to have it, whether or 
no. We don't intend to have any differences between Rome and ourselves, 
except where she is clearly modern and Papal, and therefore wrong, and we 
are ancient and Catholic, and therefore clearly right. This is the truest 
loyalty to our own branch of the Church, in contesting the claim of a foreign 
Church, with a foreign name, to the spiritual allegiance of Americans." 



1867-72.] Life of John Henry Hopkins. 189 

cording to the rubric the Litany is to be said after Morning Ser- 
vice on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. All schools of 
churchmen have interpreted this to mean that it is to be so used, 
if there is service on those days. But the rubric does not say it 
shall not be said on Tuesday, or any other day ; or in the even- 
ing, after twelve o'clock, noon. Consequently, it can be said at 
any time, and on any day, if the clergyman wishes a service of 
penitence. So, too, there is no hour mentioned for the celebra- 
tion of the Holy Eucharist. The usual Anglican custom has been 
to have the celebration after saying Morning Prayer and Litany. 
But, since the Prayer-Book does not forbid the offering of the 
Sacrifice at an early hour, befo7'e Morning Prayer, it may be 
celebrated thus, if the priest shall find it convenient to do so. 
All men see now that the Church has gained immensely in free- 
dom of use of her own formularies. They have become vastly 
more effective, and they are used less and less as ends and more 
and more as means to an end — the building up of the Kingdom 
of Christ. If no more had been effected by those who are called 
" Rituahsts " in contempt or hatred, they would merit the 
gratitude of the Church. Yet what they did, and what they tried 
to do, cost the Church many of her dearest sons, some of whom 
went into schism because they yielded to the panic which was 
shaking the hearts of men who called themselves par €xcelle7ice 
churchmen ; others were despised and branded as traitors, and 
a few gave up their trust in their true Catholic mother and de- 
clared her to be no true representative of the Church of God. 
The Church suffered deeply in this time of suspicion, and anger, 
and controversy.* But for praise or blame in the eyes of the 

* It is well known that the Ritualistic controversy was really not waged 
over the doctrine of the Real Presence and its cei"emonial expression. Stand- 
ard Anglican teachers had never ceased to set forth the doctrine, but usu- 
ally in so guarded a fashion, and with such evident dread of overstepping the 
limits of safety that the natural result had been to make men think it very 
dangerous in itself. The revival had simply cleared up these old clouds, 
and set forth the doctrine, simply and clearly ; the later Ritualists had 
simply set forth the truth outwardly as well. Dr. Hopkins' own feeling in 
the matter is best shown by the verses entitled " Sparrows in Winter," 
written in the midst of those dreary days of strife. It shows a very different 
side from that he usually revealed in his struggles for the Church and her 
liberties, and for others. . 

Bread on the stones is cast. 
'Tis winter ; and the stones are snowy cold : 

Yet fluttering past 
From leafless trees, the sparrows, young and old, 



igo A CJiampion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

world, the Church suffered the innovators to remain in her fold. 
The ceremonies they brought into the churches were not forbid- 
den ; and in less than a lustrum the movement, begun by a few, 
received a great acceleration from the coming into the country of 
a society of priests bound by the vows of the religious life, and 
acting under the orders of a superior at Oxford. Finally the 
growth of Ritualism became so great that one of the founders of 
this society, mere acquaintance with whom prevented the con- 
secration of one elected to a diocesan bishopric, was himself 
elected to a bishop's see and duly consecrated thereto. 

In all this movement from first to last, to say nothing of his 

Flock, in their hunger, to be fed ; 

And on the cold stones find their daily bread. 

Love, with a liberal hand, 
Throws out its crumbs ; then suddenly withdraws, 

Hidden to stand 
And watch, behind the window curtain's gauze, 
Lest human face, too nigh, should scare 
The timid l)irds from this their simple fare. 

And they are glad, and feed 
With eager eye ; and live on daily love. 

Yet feel none. Greed 
And passion stir their little breasts, and move 
To bickering v^^ars with wing and bill ; 
Yet love looks smiling on, and feeds them still. 

Hard is this world, and cold ; 
And toil, care, vyoe, and sin, are everywhere. 

Yet souls untold 
Come, from above, to find their sustenance here j 
And, midst the stony drought forlorn. 
Find manna waiting for them every morn. 

God gives that Bread from Heaven ; 
And yet His Presence not in glorious blaze 

Of Fire is given ; 
But hidden under veils, lest the bright rays 
Of awful light and beauty here 
Consume the sinful soul with deadly fear. 

Men feed and they are glad. 
They see not God, the Unseen ; and they turn, 

With envy mad, 
And o'er the very Gifts of Love, they burn. 
Yet, fighting, feed, and grow, and will : 
And patient God sees, loves, and feeds them still. 

-1874. 



1867-72.J Life of JoJut Henry Hopkins. 191 

years of preparation for it in the Church Journal, Dr. John 
Henry Hopkins was in the fore-front of the battle, the counsel- 
lor in difftculties of priests from all parts of the country, the 
pest of bishops, whose dearest rights he was defending by tak- 
ing sides against themselves, the stay for the faint-hearted and 
the succorer in distress. His correspondence was enormous. 
Hardly a priest who made any gain in the way of ritual but 
wrote to him to tell him of it. Sooner or later everyone who 
became involved in trouble with his diocesan wrote to him about 
the course which he might best pursue. He counselled, he ani- 
mated, he inspired, all who were in the tumult, and he shared to 
the full in all the obloquy which was heaped upon the Ritualists ; 
and yet he might have escaped from all if he had been content to 
live out his own life and go on in his own ways. But he was a 
churchman, and he was a soldier. He advised care, patience, 
moderation, prudence to those who asked his counsel. But this 
was in private. When those same men were careless, and im- 
prudent, or reckless and foolish, then he did not leave them to 
themselves because they had not heeded his words, but he openly 
showed himself on their side, and drew the fire of the enemy, 
and sometimes rescued them from uncomfortable situations by so 
doing, for he was blamed for their having done what he advised 
should not be done, as if he had inspired them. They were ex- 
cused, as young boys led away by a crack-brained agitator. 

Nor was his struggle for liberty in the Church one which sought 
for liberty for his own side alone. Where the Church had not 
decreed there was freedom, but not for men of one way of think- 
ing alone. He recognized to the utmost the full right that Evan- 
gelicals and old-fashioned churchmen had to follow out their 
ideas so long as they were loyal to the Church. Nor was he one 
who counselled the making of reprisals. If he was found most 
often defending High Churchmen from attack it was because 
they were most exposed. When High Churchmen in turn sought 
to hinder the lawful liberty of Low Churchmen he as openly 
defended them in their rights. Dr. Jaggar, an amiable and 
excellent Evangelical, was elected first Bishop of the Diocese of 
Southern Ohio. High Churchmen were then in a state of bitter 
moroseness over the failures to confirm the elections of Drs. Sey- 
mour and DeKoven. It was hinted that there had been sharp 
practice shown in the choosing of the Diocese of Ohio (the north- 
ern part of the State), wherein a considerable number of High 
Churchmen resided who had furthered the plan of division with 



192 A Champion of the Cross. [1867-72. 

a view of escaping the severity of the long rule of Low Churchism 
by the Evangelical diocesan (which, of course, he had a perfect 
right to do under the canon), and it was rumored about that an 
effort would be made to prevent the consecration of Dr. Jaggar. 
Mr. Hopkins came out in a letter which condemned the effort in 
severe terms, and showed the folly of it, and the perfect right of 
the diocese to choose its own bishop, and how blameworthy it 
was to put a mark of rejection on a priest for simply being a Low 
Churchman. Nothing was done. Probably it would have been 
a failure anyway, but the opportunity of showing how clear was 
his sense of justice even w^hen the air was ringing with accusation 
and counter-accusation on all sides, was not lost by him. The 
very last communication for the public eye that w^as written by 
Dr. Hopkins, in June, 1891, two months before his death, was 
in a similar and more noteworthy cause — the election of Dr. 
Phillips Brooks to the Episcopate of Massachusetts. However 
he may have misunderstood the issue, lying, as he then was, very 
near his mortal hour, and with a weakened system, yet his motive 
was of the highest, and once more his voice rang out in appeal for 
justice for one separated by a whole heaven in party position in 
the Church, he a leader by right in every battle for High Church- 
men, asked for fairness and right dealing toward one who mis- 
understood, and disesteemed the whole High Church position. 
Both are now in the nearer presence of the Lord they served and 
loved. 

*' There they alike in trembling hope repose, 
The bosom of their Father and their God." 



CHAPTER IX. 
1874-1891. 

Dr. Hopkins remained at Plattsburgh until the autumn of 
1876. He had been, naturally, a conspicuous figure in the new 
diocese of Albany from its foundation. He had done all that 
he possibly could do to bring about its early subdivision. He 
drew up a full scheme for the cathedral statutes, and his draught 
of the statutes became the basis upon which they were at last 
adopted. But there had been some trials and some disappoint- 
ments in his life in that diocese. It had been an object of law- 
ful ambition that he should be sent to General Convention. 
But in 1874 he was only a supplementary delegate, and had no 
place on the floor as a member of the House of Clerical and Lay 
Delegates until, by the departure of one of the regular delegates 
at the very end of that momentous session, he was called to take 
his place for a few hours. 

He felt that he had not been fairly dealt with, particularly in the 
matter of the division of the diocese, that he had been treated 
ungenerously, and that in order to preserve his respect and friend- 
ship for his diocesan he must leave, the diocese. In the latter part 
of the autumn of 1876 he was elected to the rectorship of Christ 
Church, Wilhamsport, in the diocese of Central Pennsylvania, and 
this election he accepted, and entered upon his work just before 
Christmas. The people who came to the early celebration of 
the Eucharist that Christmas morning were surprised to see that 
so notorious a Ritualist as Dr. Hopkins had not changed the vio- 
let altar-cloth proper for Advent for a white one ! 

Wilhamsport is a flourishing and pretty city on the west 
branch of the Susquehanna. The parish was known as a High 
Church parish, and it was quite willing for Dr. Hopkins to lead 
it still further along the ways which were then so much spoken 
against. But his course was not so much in the way of advanc- 
ing ceremonial, as in deepening and enriching spiritual agencies. 
The services increased in number and variety, and soon the 
weekly and festival Eucharist became the rule in the parish. 



194 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

Even more frequent celebrations came later on, and doubtless, 
if he had not been so frequently called away from home, he 
would have established the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice. 
But there was no unusual ceremonial at these services. There 
were no candles on the altar, nor were the Eucharistic vestments 
used. The bread was " fine usual bread," and the chalice was 
mixed beforehand in the vestry. Even colored stoles were not 
used until, after some years, they were given by lay people. 
The choir was but the old-fashioned mixed choir, and there 
were no choral services. On Sundays there was an early cele- 
bration, and at the usual hour followed the full morning ser- 
vice and sermon. But there was a depth of devotion apparent 
in these simple services which arose from an entire personal con- 
secration to the service of the blessed Saviour and a full belief in 
His presence in the Cathohc Church. His parochial activities 
were not fussy, and he was clear of that bane of modern active 
Church work— ^the formation of a vast machinery of guilds and 
chapters for doing useless and useful things with equal efficiency. 
But he was everybody's pastor in the parish. True as steel him- 
self and faithful to the spirit as well as the form of his vows, he 
had endless hope for others, never-ending patience with others' 
foibles or failings, unvarying readiness to listen to every tale of 
sorrow or of wrong, great gentleness in dealing with those who 
were trying to learn how to repent, breezy, fresh wit and good 
humor which blew away selfishness and downheartedness, and 
overwhelming force for the insincere and the hypocrites. 

He had none of that fault of priests — a desire to rule all things, 
and to keep all things in his own hands. This fault it is which 
makes so many parsons unmanly and mean. There was none of 
it in his make-up, for if a man could do a thing that needed to be 
done, and was willing to do it, he let him do it. And if a man 
had a right to do a thing, he let him have the right, and he went 
at least half way to tell him so. He had none of that petty dis- 
trust of his vestry which so many priests have. The law of the 
Church had given the vestry certain powers and duties, and these 
he gladly let them have without hindrance ; and yet he always 
got his vestry to do about as much as he wanted them to do. He 
used to say that the best way to get one's rights from others is to 
give them theii own. His work was a great one. It was not 
confined to the city or to his own missions. He was always at 
the service of his brother clergy as far as he could be. He vis- 
ited outlying and distant mission stations; he hunted up the sick 



1874-91] ^'^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 195 

and the wretched and forlorn ; he would travel for miles and 
miles over mountain roads to comfort a poor woman in distress. 
He would preach in country school-houses, administer the com- 
munion at night to communicants otherwise deprived of that 
privilege ; at one place he was known as " the Methodist " from 
the fervor with which he preached. It is hardly a wonder that 
when he began his agitation for the setting apart of the Convo- 
cation of Williamsport as a distinct diocese he was suspected by 
some (even his own bishop among others) of a wish to be the 
first bishop of the new see.* For he was active to an astonish- 
ing degree in this scheme, which he took up in the very begin- 
ning of his life at Williamsport. They did not know him. He 
was working for the good of the Church, and he would have 
done the same if it had been his own father who was bishop of a 
diocese which was ready for subdivision. But his work in this 
direction all went for nought. It lasted several years, and at one 
time seemed almost certain to succeed. He raised a good- sized 
subscription for an Episcopal Fund for the proposed diocese years 
before it could canonically have been set up — all to no purpose. 
In one way or another he was thwarted, and at last an assistant 
bishop was chosen, and the maintenance of two bishops in one 
diocese has been from the beginning a greater expense to the 
laity than would have been if the diocese had been divided ; and 
yet the costliness of division was the great final argument which 
defeated the movement with the laity. 

The following, selected from his frequent letters to his mother, 
will tell enough of the manner of his life at Williamsport and 
reveal his activity. 

* Before he accepted the call to Williamsport he visited the parish, and, 
setting forth his determination to attempt the division of the diocese, he 
made it the condition of his acceptance that the parish should further his 
efforts, and also that the parish church should be offered to the bishop of the 
new see, he agreeing in turn to resign and leave the diocese. As regards tlie 
financial difficulty, the division would require the assessment to be nearly 
doubled, from fifty cents to about a dollar. Yet, in 18S2, it was voted to 
ask for an assistant bishop, whose salary was fixed at $4,000, requiring an 
assessment of orie dollar and thirty-five cents! And the committee which 
recommended this action had been appointed to consider the best means of 
relieving the burden of Episcopal duties, after asking certain questions of the 
parishes. One question was, " How do you think the need of more Episco- 
pal oversight can be supplied?" Only ten per cent, of the parishes replied 
to this — " By an assistant bishop ! " while eighteen per cent, replied, " By a 
division of the diocese ! " 

The conditions which justify division seem to have existed, but the influ- 
ence of the bishop prevented it being effected. 



196 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91 



Extracts from Letters. 

February 28, 1880. — To his Mother : '' P.S. — For one funeral 
lately, in the Hills, I had to drive twelve miles through awful 
mud to the church where the service was held; then yf^'*? miles 
through ditto, to the cemetery ; then ten miles through the worst 
ditto and raiji besides, back to Williamsport — twenty-seven miles 
in all. I left home at 7.30 a.m. and returned at 6.10 p.m., and 
had service and sermon at seven, same evening ! ' ' 

March 23, 1880. — He writes to her : '' Last week, on Thurs- 
day afternoon, I went up the river twenty-seven miles to Lock- 
haven, where I was to lecture (on Symbolism) that evening, to 
help raise funds for the repairing of their church. There was a 
very good attendance, and they seemed well pleased. I might 
have returned in a midnight train, but thought it hardly kind to 
my friends there, and certainly not comfortable for myself. The 
morning train, leaving before seven o'clock, was also rather un- 
comfortable. So I concluded to take the 11 a.m. train, which 
would give me time to pay a couple of visits in the morning. 
The omnibus was ordered to call for me in time, and I was at my 
friend's house (a mile and a quarter from the station), with over- 
coat and arctics on, there being a tremendou.s snow-storm coming 
down. But he came not, and so I lost the train, and had to get 
a conveyance to take me to Williamsport, where one of my lect- 
ures on the Sacrifices of the Old Law was to be given in the 
evening. The roads were shockingly muddy. The snow kept 
coming nearly all day, the wind being just in my face. I was 
five hours on the road in a two-horse buggy, but got down in 
time, chilly, but not hurt in the slightest degree — not even a 
slight cold! " 

^'July 13, 1880. — All last week I was with the Rev. Dr. 
Charles Breck, brother of Rev. James Breck, founder of Nasho- 
tah. He has been preparing a life of his brother, made up 
mainly from his numerous letters, public and private ; and the 
mass of material made up over one thousand pages of legal cap 
paper. He wishes me to put all this in a condition for the printer 
to go to work on. I read through the whole of it last week, and 
now have to go all over it, pen in hand, and make any number 
of corrections on every page! It is a 'job and a half,' but I 
suppose I shall get through it some time or other. ' ' 

" July 30, 1880. — Yesterday our picnic came off — parish and 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f J'^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 197 

mission schools united, and adults besides — 540 souls ! The 
morning rose bright, but about eight o'clock clouded over, and 
a few drops fell threateningly : but we concluded to be brave, 
and started, and the weather was dehghtful all day long — cool, 
breezy, and now and then passing clouds to break the force of 
the sunshine. But we found that there was a ' wreck ' on the 
R.R., half way to ' Hall's Woods.' A cow had sent thirteen 
freight cars to grief, giving up her own life as a forfeit to her 
success. We all had to get out, and transfer all the baskets and 
passengers, and carry five tall tubs, each with twenty-five quarts 
of ice-cream, and ice too, for some distance around the wreck, 
and then get into another train, oi freight cars (all that could be 
gotten there in time for us). To hoist the ladies up into the 
freight cars, with no ladders, or platform, or steps, was a part of 
the fun not down in the programme ! But it was done, and 
everything passed off very pleasantly, and all got home by six 
o'clock, safe and sound. Then /began to enjoy the day ! " 

"December 21, 1880. — This afternoon I go to Danville to 
deliver a brief address on the Organ, at the opening of a new 
organ in the Mission Chapel there. Last Thursday I was at 
Renovo (about fifty miles up the river), to see the church there 
— a little timber affair which they are building from my design. 
I spent the greater part of the day there, made drawings for the 
chancel furniture, etc., went to a Church oyster supper in the 
evening (for the carpets), and got home again by midnight. As 
soon as I can get the time I am to go to Lockhaven to superin- 
tend the putting up of a Memorial Brass, designed by me, in 
memory of a previous rector, the Rev. Milton C. Lightner. I 
made the design while at New York at the General Convention. 
Since my sixtieth birthday I have begun smoking a little. I take 
only one cigar a day, and that at 10 p.m., when everybody else 
is gone to bed. So far I find it of decided benefit to my voice." 

" February 10, 1881. — At a little past midnight last Saturday 
night I returned from my western trip. The Provincial Synod 
business was very well done, as far as it went ; but it did not go 
as far as I wished and hoped. Perhaps it is wiser to move so 
slowly ; but it is very trying to one who sees so clearly what oiigJit 
to be done, and must be done sooner or later. Even what was 
accomplished much more than paid me for the time and trouble 
of going. The three bishops and all the clergy and laity treated 
me very kindly, and even more than kindly. On Thursday and 
Friday evenings I delivered two lectures to two very fair audi- 



198 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

ences, and apparently to their great satisfaction. My two ser- 
mons, on Sunday morning and evening, seemed to be equally 
satisfactory, the only complaint being that they were too short. 
The following Friday afternoon I started for home again, but 
there was detention after detention, so that it was past one o'clock 
Sunday morning before I got to bed. But I was up at 6 a.m., 
had my usual early celebration at 7 a.m., with second celebration 
at the usual time. In the afternoon I walked out to my Mission, 
and had six baptisms after attending to my parish Sunday-school. 
Full service in the evening finished my day's work — leaving me 
pretty well tired out. 

" Bishop Seymour and many others are very anxious to get me 
out West ; but there is no definite offer of any post, only, they 
say, if I come to any of the three dioceses in Illinois they will be 
sure to send me to General Convention ! ' ' 

"March 9, 1881. — Last night I had a very important vestry 
meeting. On Sunday I startled the congregation with a thun- 
derbolt, as some of them called it, by announcing a call for a 
meeting of the Wardens and Vestry on Tuesday evening, to 
consider whether the present rector should continue his connec- 
tion with the parish, or not. Bishop Seymour sent me a very 
pressing call to join him in Springfield, to live with him in his 
house, at no expense for board, lodging, washing, lights, etc., 
and with a $1,000 a year eash besides (which would be better 
pecuniarily than I am doing here, besides the pleasure of living 
and working under a congenial bishop). He promised me, too, 
that so far as he eould promise, if I went there, I should si(7'e/y be 
sent to General Convention, as well as to the Provincial Synod. 
I then put it to the Vestry, so that if there was the least desire 
to have me leave now was the time to speak out, when I could 
leave them honorably and with no bones broken on either side. 
But they did not seem to see it in that light. They unanimously 
passed a resolution, earnestly pressing me to stay, and saying that 
they believed the desire to be equally unanimous on the part of 
the entire parish. Whereupon I told them I would stay — 
probably till we get the new diocese. They know I expect to 
leave them thefi. To-night in the midnight train I go to Balti- 
more, to preach to-morrow evening in Mount Calvary Church ; 
and then return in the night train from there, so as to be here 
again by 8 a.m. on Friday morning." 

'' June 6, 1 88 1. — The past week has given me the most 
brilliant triumph of my life, in the adoption by the Diocesan 



1874-91-] ^^y^ ^y John Henry Hopkins. 199 

Convention of Illinois of the Canon of an Appellate Court, 
drafted by me; and thus completing the organization of our 
first Pi'ovince, setting a model to all the rest of the Church in 
America. This comes after twenty years of work on my part to 
secure the erection of Provinces, besides all the work that dear 
father spent in trying to get a Court of Appeals. When I went 
out to Springfield last January, / di^afted that canon, but it was 
of no effect until enacted by the three Diocesan Conventions of 
Springfield, Quincy, and Illinois. Springfield adopted it unan- 
imously; Quincy with only ^/z^ opposing vote ; and now Illinois 
adopts it unanimously on a vote by orders, although the bishop 
came out against it ! I am now preparing for a campaign in our 
Convention for one or more new dioceses." 

^'J^ly 5' 1881. — My trip to the West was rather hurried, 
but otherwise very pleasant. On St. John's Day, June 24th, 
Friday, I went down to Danville first, to attend the laying of 
the corner-stone of the new and beautiful church to be erected 
there. There were religious services first, at which the same 
clergyman preached who preached at the laying of the first 
corner-stone, fifty-three years ago ! He was a very old man, 
and his voice could scarcely be heard. The stone itself was laid 
by the Free Masons, as was done at the laying of the first corner- 
stone, fifty-three years before (and as dear father did in Pitts- 
burgh). And the same Grand Master laid the stone w^ho laid 
the other fifty-three years ago ! Certainly a most remarkable 
coincidence. Before the Masonic ceremonies were over I had 
to leave to catch the train for the West, which I joined at Sun- 
bury. At Harrisburg I took the main lin^ for Chicago, arriv- 
ing at Racine on Saturday night, about midnight. On Sunday 
the Baccalaureate Sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. Court- 
ney, of Chicago — and it Avas a remarkably fine discourse, 
preached entirely without notes. On Monday at the Junior 
Exhibition I was put on a committee to award prizes for good 
reading and elocution. On Tuesday evening the Board of 
Trustees met, and had a stormy session lasting until three o'clock 
next morning ! There was a cold-blooded attempt to put Dr. 
Parker summarily out of the Wardenship ! But it was defeated. 
The Trustees who did it were so angry at their defeat that they 
threaten to resign their seats in the Board : and it would be a 
good thing for the college if they would do so." 

" Wednesday was the Commencement. On Thursday I started 
for Nashotah, which I had not visited since 1856. Professor 



200 A CJiavipion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

Kemper and Mrs. Adams, his sister, children of Bishop Kemper, 
showed me quite a number of letters from dear father to their 
father, written during the Pennsylvania days from 1824 to 1831. 
They have also diaries of their father's missionary journeys in 
Pennsylvania from 181 2, and would very much hke to have me 
write his life ! But I am too busy now with other work. 
The next day, Friday, at eleven o'clock, I started on my return. 
I had not time to see anybody at Chicago, going or coming. 
At Erie, on Saturday morning, we received the news of the 
horrible attempt to assassinate the President. Telegram after 
telegram, at the successive stopping places, made things worse, 
until in the evening we were told that he died at 7.15 p.m., 
and that Mrs. Garfield did not arrive till half an hour after he 
had breathed his last ! We reached Williamsport at midnight. 
Next morning I was delighted to learn that the President was 
yet living, and long may he live ! During all this week I am 
having the Holy Eucharist daily at 7 a.m., owing to his con- 
dition, and the dangers that threaten the country should he 
die." 

'' September 4, 1881. — Do not feel uneasy about me, dearest 
mother ; I am somewhat better, though I had only six services 
last Sunday! " 

"October 12, 1881. — Last week I travelled only about two 
thousand miles — to Quincy, 111. , and back, to attend the Provincial 
Synod of Illinois. Yet I was disappointed. About sixty miles 
this side of Chicago we found a couple of freight cars off the track, 
which delayed us (for we could not pass till they were gotten out 
of the way) for two. hours and a half. This made me too late in 
Chicago. We ought to have reached there by 7.20 p.m. on Tues- 
day. We did not arrive till nearly ten o'clock, while the Quincy 
train left at 9.05 p.m. Instead of reaching Quincy, then, Wednes- 
day morning at 8.30, I did not arrive till past eleven o'clock 
at night, when the synod was all over. ... I found that 
the synod had done just right, although not all that I could have 
wished. Next time they may go on and do a little more. The 
same day at evening I set out on my return, and got home Satur- 
day evening. " 

" All Saints, 1881. — Last week I was at Providence, R. I., at- 
tending the Church Congress, where I had a paper to read on 
a subject that would not interest you at all — it was ' the relation 
of parishes to the diocese, and of the dioceses to the General Con- 
vention, in the matter of jurisdiction and representation.' I also 



1874-9^-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 201 

^oke as a volunteer on the subject of liturgical growth, and on 
theological education. As I am writing to my mother and to 
please Jiei-, I will tell her a fact that I would not mention to every- 
one. At the end of my speech on liturgical growth the little 
bell sounded its twenty minutes before I was done (as was the 
case with pretty much everyone else) ; but the audience were so 
interested that they kept on applauding for several minutes — in- 
sisting that I should finish what I had to say. At length I rose 
and said that I could not ask to violate the law which was laid 
down for all alike, and then they quieted sufficiently for the 
next speaker to go on. But though nearly every speaker was 
caught by the bell in the same way, there was no such demonstra- 
tion made over anybody else. I was specially thanked by the 
bishop and the committee for my contributions toward making 
the congress a success. . . . You have doubtless seen the 
account of the election of a new bishop for Pittsburgh. Immedi- 
ately after the election I received a letter from a leading layman 
who told me that ' my letter did it ! ' He had written me, 
asking me about the Rev. Cortlandt Whitehead ; and I answered 
him very fully. My letter was read aloud at a meeting of clergy 
and laity for consultation, and his election was the consequence. 
A clergyman has since written me the same thing ; and also 
another layman — President Judge of the county in which Mead- 
ville is. Also a letter in ih^ American Literary Churchman says 
the same thing so pointedly, that I am afraid it may make some 
trouble for Dr. Whitehead among the bishops who don't like me. 
While passing through New York I gave out the contract 
for the pastoral staff to be made from my design for my bishop 
here, to be presented to him by his clergy next January on the 
fiftieth anniversary of his ordination to the diaconate. It will 
be very pretty, with one hundred and twenty-seven jewels in it, 
the crook being of ebony, the upper part of the staff" of ivory, 
and the lower part of ebony, or ebony and holly alternately ; 
with some nice carved work besides. [The greater part of the cost 
of this bishop's crook fell upon him too, though it was presented 
in the name of all the clergy of the diocese. — C.F.S.] I think he 
will like that, whether he likes the notion of a new diocese or 
not ! " 

'' November 25, 1881. — My trip to Fredericksburg, Va., was 
z^<?;3^ pleasant. I had three or four days oi almost comj^lete rest ; 
— more thorough rest than I have had for years. I was receiv^ed 
with the utmost friendliness by all whom I met. I left here 



202 A Chaiupion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

at midnight on Monday the 14th, and reached Washington for 
a late breakfast at nine o'clock Tuesday morning. I reached 
Fredericksburg at 2 p.m. On Wednesday I walked out to 
Marye's Hill (pronounced Mar^^'j-) and saw the site of the terri- 
ble battle in 1862 in which Burnside was defeated. I visited 
also the Federal cemetery on that hill where twenty-two thousand 
Union dead lie buried. They brought in the bodies from the 
other battle-fields of the neighborhood, Chancellors ville and the 
Wilderness. Every grave has a stone at the head, with the num- 
ber cut on it by which it is recognized in the record book. The 
whole vast field extends over the top of Marye's Hill (with a 
magnificent prospect), having a nice wall all around it, and the 
entire ground is carefully kept in order. There is a neat cottage 
near the gate, where the care-taker lives. There is no govern- 
ment on earth that has taken such tender care for its fallen 
soldiers. 

" The next day I walked up the river to Falmouth, returning by 
another way. The third day I crossed the river, and also visited 
the ferry at which, once upon a time, General Washington flung a 
stone across the river. On the other side his mother lived for 
many years. On Friday evening I lectured on the True Rela- 
tions of Religion and Science, apparently to the satisfaction of my 
hearers, among whom were the Roman Priest, the Baptist, Metho- 
dist, and Presbyterian ministers, and many others of the thinking 
people of the place. On Sunday I preached three times, t^^^ce 
to the congregation of Trinity Church and in the evening at St. 
George's. Kinder hospitality I never expect to meet. They are 
quite ripe for an advance all along the line in Virginia. They 
say that all they want is a leader. I made them some suggestions, 
but whether they will have grit enough to follow them remains to 
be seen. 

'' I left on my return Monday morning. At York, Pa., I was 
left over for a couple of hours and called on the clergyman there, 
having a nice talk with him about the new diocese. That even- 
ing I reached Lancaster, where on Tuesday evening I met several 
of the leading gentlemen for a long talk about the new diocese. ' ' 

" December 15, 1881. — Last week at midnight on Monday I 
started for Washington, where I called on the President for a few 
brief moments and preached in the evening to a very good con- 
gregation at St. Paul's Church, the Rev. Mr. Barker's — a young 
man who is doing very good and vigorous work. [He was con- 
secrated first Missionary Bishop of Western Colorado in 1893.] 



i874-9'-] ^'^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 203 

''Next morning I started for Philadelphia, where I arrived at 
2 P.M., and stopped at the Rev. Dr. Batterson's, for whom I 
preached that evening. He has taken a feeble parish away in the 
northern suburbs of the city which was almost run out by the 
Low Church. He gives them choral service with a surpliced choir, 
and other ' ritualistic ' doings, and the congregation is building 
up at once ! On Friday evening I preached at St. Clement's, 
and between times had conversations with some of the leading 
clergy and laity about organizing the Province of Pennsylvania, 
which is one of the ' big things ' I am now trying to work, 
now that the Province of Illinois is in nice working order. 

" I expect to be at the consecration of Dr. Whitehead as 
Bishop of Pittsburgh, and hope to do something toward the Prov- 
ince of Pennsylvania before I leave the place. ' ' 

'' Christmas Eve, 1881. — Though the hurry of the holidays is 
upon us, I took a flying trip to Philadelphia last Monday night, 
starting in the midnight train and reaching Philadelphia by day- 
light. An old gentleman named , now living in German- 
town, who was formerly a resident of Williamsport and laid out 
one of the suburbs, gave there to Christ Church a small lot, 100 
feet by 50 feet, for our Mission Chapel ; but it was to be used 
only for that purpose, and if we remove to another lot, his gift 
reverts to his estate. Now it is in a low mudhole ; is too small 
for the building we need ; and we shall certainly build elsewhere 
when the time comes. But we might as well have the value of 

that lot to help us; we might get ^200 for it. Mr. is 

eighty-two years of age — an unbaptized Quaker. They say he 
is a regular old Turk for temper and obstinacy. Nobody gave 
any hope that I should succeed in getting him to give us a quit- 
claim deed (which was what I wanted). Even his daughter, a 
good churchwoman, whom I met in the street on the way to the 
house, gave me no hope. I was not personally acquainted with 
him, and brought no letter of introduction. His daughter said I 
should find him walking about the grounds. The place was very 
fine — five hundred feet front on the street, with slopes and ter- 
races planted, with evergreens and rising twenty or twenty-five 
feet above the street, with a winding road leading up to the 
house, which was large, of stone, and with a wide veranda round 
it, and a fine view therefrom. Nearly up to the house I met the 
old gentleman, introduced myself, sailed straight into business, 
and inside of an hour went off with the deed, signed, sealed, and 
witnessed, in my pocket. 



204 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

^' The rest of the day I spent with Mrs. Vibbert, and she 
wanted me to sing for her children my song about the Oyster- 
man, which was her dehght when she was their age. I took tea 
at Dr. Batterson's, made three visits, and was off again in the 
midnight train for Wilhamsport. ' ' 

'' January i, 1883. — My first letter of the New Year is to you ! 
May the New Year bring you all you can desire ! 

"The last week was an excessively busy one. Four services 
on Sunday; four on Monday (Christmas Day). There being 
three celebrations, 7 a.m., 9 a.m. at the Mission Chapel, and at 
10.30 A.M. after full service. In the evening we had the Mis- 
sion Christmas tree — the little building packed to the utmost. 
On Tuesday service and Holy Communion, and a funeral in the 
afternoon, going over two miles to the cemetery, and a vestry 
meeting in the evening. On Wednesday service and Holy Com- 
munion ; then a wedding at the church, our parish Christmas 
tree in the afternoon — with another big crowd ; and in the even- 
ing, service and sermon. On Thursday, service and Holy Com- 
munion in the morning. On Friday went down and ministered 
the Holy Communion to a sick tenant at the Hall mansion. On 
Saturday another private administration to a sick man. Yester- 
day (Sunday) four services again, and to-day, of course, service 
and Holy Communion. ... I mailed you a copy of the 
Jubilee services at St. Paul's Chapel, in which I suppose, you 
have already found my sermon. It is the first and only sermon 
that I have written for more than thirty years ! and the only one 
of mine that has ever yet been printed. I do not know whether 
it will be noticed or not, but if it is, I should not be surprised 
at plenty of fault-finding. ' ' 

"February 24, 1883. — On ]Monday of this week I went to 
Wellsboro' , in Tioga County, to help Rev. Dr. Breck in regard 
to the alteration of his church. It is an old building of frame, 
in the country style of fifty years ago, windows half an acre 
each, all filled with cheap, square transparent glass. He had 
written me to ask my advice about the size and shape of his al- 
tar windows ; but without seeing all the rest of the building, 
what could I say. So I started at 8.30 by train and went to 
Roaring Branch (about thirty miles). There I took the stage 
across the mountain to Blossburg, twelve miles, expecting to be 
the only passenger. But the sleigh was ////// and part of the 
way they crowded three women on one seat. At Blossburg I 
dined, and hired a two-horse buggy and driver to drive me 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f John Hemy Hopkins. 205 

twenty miles to Wellsboro'. It was a bright day, though rather 
cold, and I enjoyed the open-air drive of thirty-two miles very 
much. We had daylight enough after my arrival to inspect the 
church, and in the evening I made rough sketches, and gave my 
advice, and left next morning, returning by the way of Elmira, 
where I had to wait nearly six hours for a train ! I reached 
home safe and well by six o'clock p.m. 

' ' From Wisconsin the clergy have applied to me to get them up 
a pastoral staff to be given to their bishop at the meeting of their 
Convention in June, and I shall do it. It will not be, by any 
means, so costly as the one we got up here for Bishop Howe." 

" March 6, 1883. — Yesterday I had a very pleasant surprise. 
I received a letter from the Rev. Leighton Coleman, D.D., who 
is now at Oxford, England, enclosing a note to him from Canon 
Liddon, the most distinguished living preacher in the Church of 
England. Dr. Coleman had sent him a copy of my Review Ar- 
ticle about Dr. Pusey (whose Life Canon Liddon is to write) ; 
and the Canon thanks him for it, saying of my Article : ' It is 
written with great grasp of the general outline of the subject, and 
it occasionally displays an intimate acquaintance with details, 
for which I was unprepared.' Excuse me for transcribing the 
words ; but I thought that — coming from so distinguished a man 
— they might give some pleasure to my mother. That article 
has brought me more letters of thanks and compliments than any 
other I ever wrote." 

''April 30, 1883. — Last week I went down to Philadelphia, 
starting from here in a dismal snow-storm which continued all 
day till it melted into a cold rain, in which I walked about all 
the evening in the city. 

" Next morning I secured an interview with Bishop Stevens, 
who has long disliked me, and who has hitherto bluffed me off, 
so that I could not get a word with him. I got into the house, 
however, and would take no suggestion to meet him elsewhere. 
I sent back word that I was in no hurry ; had nothing to do in 
Philadelphia but to see the bishop ; and would wait as long as 
he pleased. . In about twenty minutes the bishop came in, and 
greeted me very coolly. We w^ere together for more than an 
hour. By the time we got through we had come to a mutual 
understanding in regard to the Federate Council of Pennsylvania 
— he is to introduce the subject in his address to the Convention. 
I got him to name a number of gentlemen for me to see on the 
subject, who will support the measure in Convention, and be- 



2o6 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

fore parting he gave me his blessing. We shall ///// together 
on that important point. I afterward saw the gentlemen he 
spoke of, and one of them, Judge Thayer, has promised to move 
for a committee on that part of the bishop's address; another 
— a leading Low Church clergyman — will second the motion, 
with a speech ; all the others will support it, and work for it in 
advance. So that — unless something occurs to disappoint us — I 
think the Province of Pennsylvania will be on its legs this year. 
My resolutions have already passed the Conventions of Pittsburgh 
and Central Pennsylvania. I came home feeling ve7'y happy, I 
assure you, for nothing could be done without Bishop Stevens and 
his Convention ; and as he is a Low Churchman and did not 
like me, and as his Convention is Low Church also, and as every 
effort I had made through others and through letters had been 
in vain, my final success personally is only the more gratifying. 
Perhaps, however, some other influence may come in and upset 
it all yet ! I shall not feel sure until the Philadelphia Conven- 
tion is over. Next week I go to New York to the Board of 
Trustees of the General Theological Seminary, and I expect 
some tough work there too, of which more when I return." 

'' May 14, 1883. — Last week was one of the most success- 
ful of my life — more so than I could have dreamed of 

" On Monday evening I met, as a member, the Committee of 
the Board of Trustees of the General Theological Seminary on 
Amendments to the Constitution — expecting that I migJit be in a 
minority of one. We met in the robing-room of Trinity Chapel. 
Dr. Dix was in the chair — and there were eight or nine in all, 
Dr. Heman Dyer (the old head-centre of the Low Church party 
in New York) among them. The main thing was to try to 
reduce the board in numbers. It now has nearly five hundred 
members. Some six years ago they tried to reduce the number 
to only about one hundred and sixty ! But they failed somehow 
even in that. This time, at first, they thought they could not 
safely venture upon more. But I persuaded them to go farther, 
and finally they unanimously agreed to recommend that the 
number be only fifty-one besides the bishops (I wanted thirty- 
one, but yielded so as to secure unanimity). On Wednesday 
evening we had a tough fight in the Board itself; but finally 
carried our proposal there also. If we can get it through General 
Convention, we shall be all right ! I have been working twenty- 
four years for this ! On the next day, in Philadelphia, the 
Bishop inserted in his Address what I wished him to say about the 



I874-9I-J ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 207 

Federate Council of all the dioceses in the State of Pennsylvania. 
A committee was appointed on that part of the bishop's address ; 
a report and resolutions which I had drawn up were presented 
to the Convention by the Committee, and were passed — with 
only one amendment, which does no harm. Each of the three 
dioceses has now passed the same resolutions, and each has 
appointed a committee of seven to meet the others, and the 
Bishop of Pennsylvania is to call them together, probably some 
time in September. This is the greatest triumph of the year, so 
far ! On Sunday last — Whitsunday — Archdeacon Kirkby was 
with us in the morning, and gave us a most interesting talk on 
missions. In the afternoon our three Sunday-schools were all 
together, for the first time. Trinity Parish split off from our 
parish some years before I came ; setting itself up for a Low 
Church parish, saying that we were too ' High Church ; ' many 
narrow things on both sides have been done to keep up the feel- 
ing of ^mmion. I have steadily pursued a policy of peace and 
harmony as far as I could ; and, as a result of it, the Rector of 
Trinity, Mr. Foley, will this year vote with us on the division 
of the diocese (which he has never done before), d^n^ p7'oposed 
that his Sunday-school should come down to Christ Church in 
the afternoon, and join ours and our Mission Sunday-school, 
and all three together be talked to by the archdeacon. So said, 
so done. We had the columns of the church dressed with the 
Sunday-school banners all round. We began with our little 
Sunday-school choral service (w^ords and music both mine) ; 
and Mr. Foley made a brief address (he liked our little choral 
service so well that he is going to introduce it in his own Sunday- 
school ! ). The archdeacon talked to the children in a most 
charming way. The four hymns that were sung would have 
warmed your heart. The whole three schools had practised 
them. We had five brass instruments to reinforce the organ ; 
and the volume of sound that went up was such as Williamsport 
had never known before. All were delighted. My organist was 
so pleased that the tears of joy ran down his face ! A very large 
share of the success was due to Mr. Dobson, my good Deacon. 
Mr. Foley is going to have a surpliced choir ! Mr. Dobson will 
do the same in his Mission Chapel. We may do something of 
the sort also. ' ' 

''June 16, 1883. — As you doubtless know by this time I 
was defeated in our Convention in the two things I desired most. 
The division of the diocese was lost by one vote, and my election 



2o8 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

to General Convention failed by the same. I have taken my 
defeat with my usual good humor. I am one of the ' supple- 
mental deputies,' however, and may possibly get a seat in that 
way, but it is not likely. I suppose I had had successes enough 
for one season ! There were several reasons for our defeat. In 
the first place, my friends all said that, as I had been so promi- 
nent in the movement all through, / had better be sile?it now — 
that my speaking would provoke more opposition, etc. So I 
took their advice, they being perfectly sure that they had votes 
enough to carry it. Nearly all the speeches were made on the 
other side, and were left unanswered by our friends. From 
what I have been told since by some who voted against us, I am 
sure that if I had torn their flimsy fallacies to rags, as I could have 
done in a few moments, the result would have been different. 
Next time I shall take the bit between my teeth and do my own 
steering. But this beats us for three years longer ! I may pos- 
sibly get into General Convention by the time I am sixty-six years 
old — and probably not then ! The bishop has everywhere 
stirred up the laity against me by calling me an 'agitator,' 'a 
dangerous man,' ' always extreme,' etc. So they send to General 
Convention quiet men, who will not say a word all the way 
through, and will probably run home before the session is 
through ! 

" I had OYiQ great success however. Last October I introduced 
an amendment to our Constitution, so that instead of the clergy 
nomi?iati?tg a man for bishop, and the laity then voting only yes 
or no to that man, both Orders shall ballot at the same time, 
and no one is elected until he has at the same ballot a majority 
of both Orders. This change was unanimously approved in 
October, and now has been unanimously adopted, so that it is 
our law." 

'' June 26, 1883. — Tell my dear sister that I don't need any 
consolation. I am the most good-natured defeated man that 
ever was. And it is easy to me : for when the <?z'(f;z/ shows which 
way the Lord wishes it to be for the present, I am always con- 
tented, for I do not think myself wiser than He ! I know He 
will bring good out of it in the long run, whether / live to see 
it or not." 

Here is as good a place as any for an extract from a letter by 
Bishop Howe upon this very point : '' Just after a defeat in one 
of these crises, the champion, veiling his disappointment in smiles, 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 209 

made his unobserved way to the Chair, and with a cordial grasp 
of the hand, said : ' Dear Bishop, I have two characteristics — I 
never lose my temper, and I never give up ! ' To that decision 
of the diocese. Dr. Hopkins made no factious opposition." 

To resume his letter to his mother : ' ' On Monday of last week 
r went up to Tioga County to help Dr. Breck in remodelling his 
old frame church. They wanted my advice about every thing. 
The next day, returning, we found a great landslide over the 
railroad track, which detained us nearly twenty-four hours. I 
had nothing to eat from breakfast till 9 p.m. The afternoon 
settled down into a hard rain, dark and dismal. The conductor 
foraged till he brought in at 9 p.m. a basket with a loaf of bread, 
some butter in a tin cup, three pieces of cold fried ham, a couple 
of hard-boiled eggs, and a bit of cheese. I made a good supper ! 
At a farmhouse, to which we went back, some ladies of the 
party got beds, but I bunked out on the seats of the car with my 
clothes on, and slept so-so. Next morning we got a good break- 
fast at the farmhouse, and reached home early in the afternoon, 
I was to have started that morning for Lehigh University to 
attend their Commencement and see some folks for talk on 
Church matters. But now the only way I could reach there in 
time was to take the midnight train and travel all night, and so 
arrived there just half an hour before the exercises began. So 
you see I had a rather hard week of it. ' ' 

"Philadelphia, October 18. — Yesterday were carried, by an 
overwhelming majority, the amendments in the Constitution of 
the General Theological Seminary for which I have been working 
for more than twenty-four years ! Instead of between five hun- 
dred and six hundred members, that Board will now have only 
fifty-one besides the bishops. I assure you the result made me 
very happy." 

''November 22, 1883. — Last week, on Monday, I took the 
midnight train for the east, arriving at New Brunswick, N. J., 
at 10.30 A.M., in time for the choral celebration in Christ 
Church, in which the surpliced choirs of the diocese took part. 
There .were over sixty in surplices, besides the clergy and the 
bishop. The service w^as remarkably well done. At 4 p.m. 
there was choral evensong, and I preached the sermon, which 
they all seemed to like very well. The church was crowded to 
the utmost on both occasions. 

" At 6 p.m. I went on to New York and spent a very pleasant 
14 



2IO A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

evening with Dr. and Mrs. Dix. Next morning I had a long- 
talk with Dr. Swope. In the afternoon Dr. Dix took me to 
the house of Mr. John Jacob Astor, to show me (by his per- 
mission) a magnificent Book of Hours, illuminated on vellum, in 
pe7'fect condition, executed about four hundred years ago for 
Albert of Brandenburg. The Emperor of Germany (one of his 
descendants) was very anxious to get it, but our American million- 
aire carried it off under his nose ; but it cost him considerably 
over ten thousand dollars. The paintings all through the work 
were in exquisite miniature style, exceeding anything else of the 
sort I ever saw. At 6 p.m. I dined with a very wealthy friend, 
Elbridge T. Gerry and his wife, and had much pleasant talk ; 
and about 9 p.m. went to Dr. Hoffman's (dean of the sem- 
inary), and talked with him till nearly midnight. Next day I 
went on doing the same, but getting to Philadelphia by 6 p.m., 
where I called on Bishop Stevens (not at home) and others, tak- 
ing the midnight train again back to AVilliamsport. 

'' I was delighted in New York to find a wonderful unity 
of feeling in supporting the new assistant bishop (Dr. H. C. 
Potter), and that juy personal frie?ids, Dr. Swope especially, 
seem to be nearer to him than anybody else ! — a remarkable 
fact." 

" December 9, 1883. — 1 leave early to-morrow for Corning, 
N. Y., on Church business, about which I will write you more 
fully after my return. During the past week I lectured on 
Church music, on Tuesday evening, at Bradford, in this State ; 
on Wednesday preached at Du Bois, where a nice little parish is 
growing up out of seed sown by me a year ago ; and a little 
church is gowing up rapidly, served by a deacon of the diocese 
of Pittsburgh. On Thursday morning I administered the Holy 
Communion to sixteen persons, and returned home by midnight. 
You see, I find plenty to do ! " 

''December 17, 1883. — During the past week I have again 
been 'on the go.' On Monday I went to Corning, N. Y., to 
see General Magee, one of the most influential of the rich men 
who are interested in the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company, 
who are building the new city of Peak in the midst of their 
forty thousand acres of coal lands. They have given the Church, 
at my request, the finest building site in the new town, and I 
want the rich stockholders — especially those who are churchmen — 
to give me money enough to build a nice church costing $6,000 
or $7,000. They wish me to prepare my plans and get esti- 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkhis. 211 

mates on them, and then they will tell me what they will do. 
On my way back I stopped at Elmira to see another influential 
stockholder, and at Ralston all night to meet another. All looks 
favorable. I reached home Wednesday noon. To-morrow 
night I go to New York to attend the consecration of Mr. 
Walker as Bishop of Northern Dakota. ' ' 

" St. Stephen's Day, 1883. — Last week I took the train Tues- 
day night, reaching Philadelphia on Wednesday morning — a 
dismal snow-stormy day ! I took a cab for three hours, going to 
see some friends, and then to Judge Thayer's court-room, where 
I had to wait three hours before I could see him. Bishop Stevens 
seems disposed to block all my work for the Federate Council of 
Pennsylvania by mere inaction. He will not fix either time or 
place for the meeting of the Committees of Conference already 
appointed from the three dioceses. It remains to be seen whether 
I can get him to move on by pressure applied through others. 
Judge Thayer will help. 

'' In the afternoon train I went to New York, where, next 
morning, I attended the consecration of the Rev. Wm. D. Walker 
as Bishop of North Dakota. When I was first ordained I was 
engaged for ten weeks to hold service for ' St. George the 
Martyr,' a parish organization holding twenty-four lots of land 
which were to be conveyed to St. Luke's Hospital. These ser- 
vices were held in a private house, away down town, and were 
attended by very few. One of the vestrymen who ^/^ attend was 
Bishop Walker's /^^//z^r, and he brought the bishop (then a little 
boy) with him. I did not know that my connection with him 
began so long ago ! I have known him well ever since he was 
in the General Theological Seminary. 

"At the collation in Calvary Church Rectory I had a very 
pleasant conversation with Bishop Coxe, with whom I am on 
very pleasant terms now. Bishop Littlejohn also had a long 
talk with me about the altar plate for his Long Island Cathedral ; 
but I persuaded him to employ a regular architect — a friend of 
mine. I have not time for it. In the evening I had, by appoint- 
ment, a confidential talk with Bishop Henry C. Potter, which 
was on the "whole very satisfactory. While there a Mr. Gregory 
called to be confirmed by special appointment, and the bishop 
asked me to present him, which, -of course, I was glad to do. 
He (Mr. G.) was surprised and apparently delighted to meet me 
on such an occasion. He was engaged to be married to one of my 
old flock at Plattsburgh, and she was so anxious that he should 



212 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

take the Communion with her at Christmas that he came to 
Bishop Potter to be confirmed specially in time." 

''January 22, 1884. — Last week I was off again to the 
Western part of the State. Bishop Stevens threatens to put in 
his pocket the three resolutions of Conventions of dioceses in this 
State, and 7tot call together the three Committees which have 
been appointed to consider and report on the expediency of 
establishing a Federate Council. As the Diocese of Pittsburgh at 
my suggestion moved first in this matter, so I wanted them now 
to i?isist that Bishop Stevens shall do his duty. By arrangement 
with Bishop Whitehead I went first to Unionto^^^l and attended 
the Southern Convocation of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. It in- 
volved my spending the night (Tuesday) at Altoona, and get- 
ting up at four in the morning ! I breakfasted at Greensburg, 
and thought of the time when dear father stopped there to 
borrow Blackstone from lawyer Foster. We had a very pleasant 
meeting at Uniontown — the clergy calling me out to speak on 
every subject that came up. In the evening I made one of the 
speeches, and reminded them of dear father's work in that west- 
ern country. Next day I went to Pittsburgh to see Hill Burg- 
win, a leading layman, who has worked with me for many years, 
and who agreed to do all that I wanted him to do. I reached 
home again at 12.20 Saturday vwi^ningy 

"February 16, 1884. — I have been hard at work trying to 
get the plans for the mission church at Peale done. You know, 
too, that I have been trying to get the ' Province of Pennsyl- 
vania ' established. I succeeded, last spring, in getting the 
three Conventions of tliree dioceses in this State all to adopt 
identical resolutions, and three Committees of Conference were 
appointed to meet and report on the expediency of establishing 
a Federate Council, the time SLudptaee of meeting to be fixed by 
the Bishop of Pennsylvania (Stevens). I thought we were a/t 
right, but when I wrote to Bishop Stevens in December, asking 
him to let me know when he would call us together, he coolly 
^^Tote back to me that as /le did not see any special reason for our 
meeting, he was not going to call us together at all ! The idea 
of his undertaking to veto the action of the entire three Conven- 
tions (including his own) was a perfect outrage ! But I knew it 
would be useless for me to tackle him directly. So I did not 
reply to his letter. But I made a trip to Philadelphia, and 
called on Judge Thayer, a prominent layman — the one who, by 
arrangement with the bishop himself — moved the matter in his 



1874-91-] ^lA <^/ John Henry Hopki7is. 213 

own convention, and carried it ! The bishop knows that Thayer 
is not a man to be trifled with. Thayer was wilHng to go to the 
bishop, if some letter was written to him by some influential 
member of the Committee from some other diocese. So I went 
to Pittsburgh, and talked it over with my friend Hill Burgwin, 
one of the best lawyers there, and the one vfYioJirst moved our 
resolutions (at my request) in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. He en- 
tered into my views at once, and wrote to Thayer, who sent his 
letter (with one from himself) to Bishop Stevens. And the bishop 
replies that if Judge Thayer and Mr. Burgwin think it advisable 
he will call the Committees together ! In this change of front, 
you see, I have kept myself out of sight altogether. The strong 
laymen are my best helpers. I expect to hear, before long, that 
the time is fixed and meeting called. The other matter may 
interest you more. The alumni of the General Theological Sem- 
inary have raised an endowment for a professorship in the semi- 
nary, and the first appointment is soon to be made. The 
alumni have the election in their own hands. Dr. Dix — in a 
very pleasant note — informs me that he has nominated 77ie. But 
nomination and election are very different things. To have been 
nominated so cordially by him, however, will I think, be pleas- 
ing to you, as it certainly was very gratifying to me. ' ' 

Here is the place to note that Bishop Howe writes, regarding 
the ' ' Province of Pennsylvania, ' ' the various stages of whose 
growth have been noted in Dr. Hopkins' letters, as follows : 
* ' In one aspect of the provincial system I was happy to find 
myself in full accord with the earnest and thoroughly informed 
presbyter. He was much interested in the adoption and observ- 
ance of Canon 6 of Title III. of the Digest which provides for 
a ' Federate Council ' of all the dioceses in any one Common- 
wealth, for purposes in which they have a common concern, as 
connected with or dependent upon the civil power. The organi- 
zation of such a body in Pennsylvania was largely due to his 
influence and exertion. The indifference with which it had 
been regarded in some quarters, and the fear in some others 
that the measure might be used as an entering wedge for other 
and more questionable affiliations, have hitherto prevented that 
beneficent co-operation in Pennsylvania of the several dioceses 
from which I had fondly hoped that all would derive advantages, 
for which we still have to wait. Dr. Hopkins died in the faith 
that the benefits of such federation will yet be realized among us, 



214 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

and in his letter to me expressed that he should ' know and re- 
joice over it in Paradise/ to which he felt he was hastening." 

''March 12, 1884. — I have just returned from Scranton 
where I preached Tuesday evening to a very large congregation 
(for a week day evening and ve^y rainy at that). I send you a 
copy of the Scranton Republican, with a preliminary notice of 
my coming, which reads as if it were written specially to please 
my mother ! 

'' Annun. B. V. M., 1884. — Last week I was off again, first 
on Monday to Watkins, N. Y., to see General Magee, one of 
the leading men in the Clearfield Bituminous Coal Company, 
to start the getting up of subscriptions among the stockholders 
for my new church at Peale, which church I am building for my 
other deacon, Mr. Balsley, who began his services there the day 
before. General Magee suggested that I write him a letter, 
stating just how much I want ($7,500), and that he will show it 
to Wm. H. Vanderbilt, and see what he will do.* Mr. Van- 
derbilt owns more than two millions of dollars' worth of stock in 
that company ! Next day I went to Elmira first, and saw two 
other important men in the Company, finding them kindly 
disposed. In the afternoon I went to Tioga, Pa., where I 
preached in the evening to a very fair congregation (for a 
week day). The clergyman there is doing a remarkably good 
work. Next morning, after a celebration at the church, I 
started for home, but, at Stokesdale Junction, somehow or other, 
I did not hear the conductor announce the place, and I was car- 
ried past ! I telegraphed my misfortune to Mr. Dobson, and 
went on to Wellsboro,' spending the interval with Dr. Breck, 
who was very glad to see me, having lately lost his wife, after 
they had buried all their children ! He showed me their church, 
which had been altered and painted, and in regard to which 
they consulted me very often. They are well satisfied with the 
result, and it looks better than I ever thought it would, by far ! 

* This church was built by Dr. Hopkins' sole efforts, after his own de- 
signs. With the exception of two or three large subscriptions he paid out 
more cash than any other one contributor, and paid every bill for its build- 
ing when due, borrowing money from the bank to do so, and meeting them, 
and paying discounts. If all he did for the church was reckoned at a cash 
valuation he would have been the largest single contributor. In short, he 
made himself responsible for every cent of its cost. The church was conse- 
crated, and thus put into the bishop's hands. Nor was this the only instance 
of his energy and generosity in church building. 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f 7(^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 215 

" Starting in the four o'clock train, we met detention after de- 
tention, landslides owing to the rain, etc., and I did not reach 
home till nearly midnight. 

'^ It may please you to know that I was specially invited to be 
present at the consecration of Rev. Dr. Watson, the first bishop 
of the new diocese of East Carolina, but declined as having neither 
the time nor the money. They then invited me the second time, 
offering to pay all my expetises ! They could not have done 
more, if I had been the presiding bishop ! But I am too busy 
and had to decline again. 

" The Province of Pennsylvania looks more favorable now. I 
think Bishop Stevens means fairly. Next week I shall take a 
trip to Philadelphia and find out ! 

" April 5, 1884. — Monday night I went to Philadelphia, arriv- 
ing there at eight o'clock. After breakfast I went to see Bishop 
Stevens about the meetings of the committees of conference. I 
had succeeded in circumnavigating him ! My two brave laymen 
did the thing up beautifully for me ! We are now to meet at 
8 P.M. on Ascension Day, at the house of Bishop Stevens. This 
is their Hundredth Convention since the diocese was organized ; 
and so they meet on Thursday (Ascension Day) instead of Tues- 
day as usual, and continue their session over Sunday. I wanted 
to talk over with him, and settle on the exact programmes of 
what was to be done at the meeting. But I found him too sick 
to talk. He had so bad a cold that he was lying covered with 
wraps, on his library sofa, hardly able to articulate an audible 
word ! I therefore skipped the long talk, and left — not a little 
disappointed. I shall still try to get at the substance of the 
thing, in another way, however. 

'' Another thing I had to do was to go to an architect's office 
in Chestnut Street, and examine his plans for a memorial chapel 
for Lehigh University. I did so, and found them such as I could 
not approve at all ! " The architect (under orders, he said, from 
head-quarters) had tried to combine chapel and commencement 
hall, two incompatible things. I have written my condemna- 
tion to the president of the University, and hope I shall succeed 
in getting some better plan adopted. The architect is not a 
Churchman, and knows nothing about Church architecture, ex- 
cept from the teeth outward. It is a shame not to have a 
Church architect to design a Chapel for a Church University. 

" Calling on Dr. Batterson afterward, I learned some very inter- 
esting circumstances in connection with Bishop Clarkson. One 



2i6 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

was, that the Bishop's last Sunday East was spent with Dr. Bat- 
terson, morning and evening; and Dr. Batterson gave him as 
fine rituahstic services as he could get ujd — vestments, lights, 
processions, etc. After they had returned to the house, and sat 
down, there was a little pause, and then the Bishop — bringing 
his fist down with great emphasis — exclaimed — ' Batterson ! I 
would give a thousand dollars if I could have a service like that 
in my cathedral at Omaha ! ' 

''At the great public meeting held to express sorrow at his 
death, a Romanist presided, and a Presbyterian made the leading 
speech in praise of him ! 

" April 16, 1884. — Holy Week and Easter were very busy 
with us, as a matter of course. Notwithstanding the criss-cross 
weather, the attendance was very good. Easter day was a per- 
fect day, and we had 82 communicants at the early celebration, 
6^ at nine o'clock at the Mission Chapel, and 70 more at the 
noon celebration — 220 in all, larger by 24 than any previous 
communion in the parish. The offerings also bring up our fund 
for tiling the church floor (in place of our ragged carpets) to 
more than Si, 100. So, we shall put that work through this sum- 
mer. The Reredos fund, too, is about complete (except that we 
shall want $500 more for three fine \d.ig^ pictures to complete it). 

'' May 8, 1884. — Last Sunday the Bishop was with us. He 
arrived at past midnight on Saturday night (or rather, Sunday 
morning). I was at the station to meet him, and was up at 6 
A.M. for my early celebration, all the same. In the morning it 
rained ha7'd, but the church was full, and we had 30 confirmed. 
In the afternoon we had expected to open our new Sunday-school 
building, but, most provokingly, it was not done. So I gave the 
Bishop a rest in the afternoon (which he did not regret), and in 
the evening (raining still) we drove him out to our Mission 
Chapel. As we knew it Avould be crowded, we both robed before 
getting into the carriage. The little place was crowded to the 
tctinost, and many could not get in at all ! The music was very 
hearty and spirited, sustained by a comet as well as the reed- 
organ. During the service the Bishop whispered to me, ' It's 
very hot here ! Can there not be some ventilation ? ' I an- 
swered that he had already all the ventilation that was possible. 
He replied : ' It is worse than the Black Hole of Calcutta ! ' 
I answered, ' Mr. Dobson has this every Sunday night. ' It 
was hot ! We were streaming from every pore in our bodies. 
But sixteen more were confirmed (making 46 in all), and every- 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f y^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 217 

thing went off in the most gratifying manner — except for the 
rain and the sweltering within. I got the Bishop home again, 
without his catching cold, however, which was rather more than 
I expected under the circumstances. 

'' While the Bishop was here I sounded him in regard to the 
meeting of our Committees of Conference on a Federate Council, 
and he has consented at once to make the motion I wish him to 
make. I think that matter will go through straight. ' ' 

"July 7, 1884. — You may perhaps have noticed that Mon- 
signor Capel, the notorious Romanist lecturer and preacher, has 
been for some time in this country, and has come out with a 
pamphlet against our Church. A consultation among many of 
the clergy (a bishop being among them) was held at the rooms 
of the American Church Review, and it was tmanijnously digxQed. 
that / must write the Review of it. So last week, to get ti^ne — 
for I am too much interrupted here — I went down to Coleman 
Hall's, and spent three days, working steadily at my table from 
breakfast till past 7 p.m., stopping only for dinner. The article 
is nearly done, but yet needs a great deal of finishing. It is ex- 
pected to appear in the August number of the Review. ' ' 

" To a priest, July 29, 1885. — You ought to be ashamed of 
yourself for getting any touch of the Roman fever under any cir- 
cumstances, and if the young lady you write of has helped to 
cure you, she has done a good work, and give her my love. If 
she is the right sort of a woman, you will be all the better for be- 
ing married once.'' 

" To the same, August 4, 1885. — It is a comfort to know 
that your difficulty was only speculative, and that you are now 
cured. Whenever the fit comes over you again, think of the 
time wh.Qnfonr out of the five Patriarchs were Arianizing heretics ; 
or of that later time when a paganized Pope of Rome could say : 
' This Bethlehem fable has been a very profitable one for us ! ' 
There is a fermentation going on all through the spiritual world, 
and I believe the dear Lord will bring ^o-^^^ out of it all. But I 
have not time for more — the O. C. R. (Order of Corporate Re- 
union) is a dishonest humbug ! Last week I held service, on 
Thursday and Friday evenings, in the Elk Lick and Centennial 
School-houses in Sullivan County, baptizing and adminis- 
tering the Holy Communion to five persons." [Sullivan County 
is about forty miles from Williamsport, and occupies an outlying 
spur of the Allegheny Mountains ; it was not then accessible by 
rail, and roads could not be worse.] 



2i8 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

In 1886 his ambition to be elected to General Convention 
was gratified, and at the session of that year, which was held in 
Chicago, he was one of the most prominent figures. He was 
perfectly familiar with all the work of the Convention, for he had 
never missed a session from the year 1841, except, possibly, that 
of 1844. 

Very early in the session. Dr. Phillips Brooks offered a reso- 
lution of fraternal greeting to the Congregational General Body 
then in session. Naturally, it was opposed, and on more 
grounds than one ; but Dr. Hopkins came out in support of the 
resolution, on the ground, chiefly, that since we had begun by 
making overtures toward a discussion of hindrances to a reunion 
with all other bodies of Christians, it would be like an affront to 
refuse a mere courtesy to one of them. He was on his feet a 
great many times, and his fluency and strength of argument, his 
sparkling wit, his constant good humor, made him sure of willing 
listeners. No discussion was dull in which he took part, and 
with all his sharpness and earnestness he never lost his temper 
nor self-control. He had no place in any important standing 
committee, for the President, following the ordinary rule, made 
him, as a new member, a member of the Committee on the State 
of the Church. He and Dr. Knight, afterward Bishop of Mil- 
waukee, were colleagues from Central Pennsylvania, and they 
voted aye on the proposal to change the name of the Church ; 
thus dividing the clerical delegation from that diocese. 

The subject of reunion occupied the chief place in his heart, 
and when the committee having the matter in charge reported 
the famous "Quadrilateral," he made a minority report which 
was afterward signed by a considerable number of persons. His 
own plan, which he had matured in the course of many years, has 
the merit of clearness and fulness, while it cannot for a momenl 
be misunderstood, or be charged, as the Chicago-Lambeth Declara- 
tion of the Bishops has been charged, with shiftiness and double- 
dealing. 

Dr. Hopkins' plan looked two ways. First, premising that 
no branch of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostohc Church has 
ever embodied any formal heresy in the Eucharistic Office, he 
proposed that to the eighth article of the Constitution be added 
these words, or their equivalent : " While this Church is responsi- 
ble only for her own standards, which she has herself set forth, 
yet she is willing to receive into union any Church using any 
Liturgy that ever has been used in any branch of the One Holy 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 219 

Catholic and Apostolic Church in any age." In the next place, 
not insisting upon any Protestant congregation taking the absurd 
name of Protestant Episcopal, or requiring the observance of our 
daily choir offices, as if they were of oecumenical obHgation, and 
asserting, as his own opinion, that our own narrowness is the 
chief obstacle in our way of growth, he proposed the following 
further addition to the Eighth Article : "This Church is also 
ready to receive into communion any congregation of Christian 
persons who will, ist, accept the definitions of the Faith as set 
forth by the undisputed General Councils ; 2d, have a ministry 
of Apostolic Succession given either hypothetically or absolutely ; 
3d, whose members will accept confirmation at the hands of 
a bishop ; and, 4th, who will pledge themselves to use only valid 
form and matter in the administration of the two great Sacra- 
ments of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. This valid form in 
the Eucharist to be the recital of our Lord's words of institution 
in the course of a prayer of consecration offered to the Father ; 
and the matter, bread, leavened or unleavened, and wine pro- 
duced by the fermentation of grape juice. " It is to be observed 
further, in regard to the proposals relating to union with Protest- 
ant congregations, that his plan involved communion with them, 
but gave them no legislative authority. Unity would not be 
reached even if such congregations accepted such terms offered ; 
but unity would be furthered immensely. This plan would 
establish at once a union of life and restore those persons to 
Catholic communion who are now separated from it externally. 
But all modes of worship, whether extemporaneous or liturgical, 
as well as all control of property would remain for a long time 
to come, as they are now. Moreover it would ensure real co- 
operation in Missionary work of all kinds, and thus tend to 
produce actual unity. 

Dr. Hopkins had made these terms known to the Church at 
intervals, for some years, before the Chicago meeting of 1886. 
He first set them forth to any large gathering when he preached at 
St. Paul's Chapel on the occasion of the semi-centennial celebra- 
tion of the consecration of the P'our Bishops (Mcllvaine, Hop- 
kins, Smith, and Doane) in 1832. He made them known at the 
meeting of the '■'■ Congress of Christian Churches," especially at 
Cleveland, in 1886, when he declared, as a priest of the Episco- 
pal Church before representatives of various denominations, in- 
cluding the Roman Cathohc Bishop of Cleveland, his willingness 
to give up, for the sake of unity, everything peculiar to the Prot- 



220 A CJiauipioii of the Cross. [1874-91. 

estant Episcopal Chiirch. Thus far his remarks were received 
with great enthusiasm, but when he advanced to his true position, 
that the Cathohc Church was the only centre of unity, and that 
her peculiarities were of the Lord's own grace, it was seen that 
in his view unity could only be accomplished by union with the 
body of the Catholic Church. 

The declaration of the House of Bishops, which was adopted 
by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies, and afterward, with 
slight modifications, as a basis for negotiation, prevented any dis- 
cussion of the merits of Dr. Hopkins' plan. No one has ever 
been able to tell how much or how little the Quadrilateral may 
mean, and possibly, this plan may be considered, if only as an in- 
terpretation of the Bishops' Declaration. 

The first election of a clergyman to fill the Alumni lecture- 
ship in the General Seminary on Christian Evidences, resulted in 
favor of Dr. G. W. Dean, with Dr. Hopkins as the second choice. 
Dr. Dean lived but a few years after his election, and upon his 
death Dr. Hopkins was elected by a large majority to the vacant 
lectureship. Christ Church had grown so strong during his rec- 
torship that he felt he was not able longer, at the age of sixty- 
seven, with the difficulty he had in walking, and his weakened 
eyesight, to give the work the attention it needed, and therefore 
after his election he resigned his rectorship. More than eleven 
hundred had been baptized, and five hundred and forty-six had 
been confirmed during the eleven years of his rectorship. The 
church had been adorned and enriched ; two handsome mission 
chapels had been built, besides the new Sunday-school and Guild 
Hall, from his designs ; and, besides, he had become personally 
responsible for the building of the Church of St. Alban, at Peale, 
mentioned in his letters. The election to the Seminary offered 
him work for which he was perfectly qualified, and work which 
his decreasing bodily activity would not hinder. 

The night before he departed a reception was given him, 
which all the parish attended, and many others. A large sum of 
money was given him as a last token of esteem, and so, with 
tears he separated from his well-loved people. 

To a friend of many years he wrote, October 20, 1887 : "At 
last I have a chance to write you some accounts of my experi- 
ences since I saw you last, at the close of the ^1,000 reception at 
the Guild Hall of Christ Church. 

" All the rest of that night I sat up working over my disorder- 
ly table and its accumulated papers — nearly eleven years of ac- 



1874-9 r- J Life of John Henry Hopki7is. 221 

cumulation. At 6 a.m. I dozed for about half an hour in the big 
easy chair you sent me for my bed-room, and then went at it 
again. Mr. Woodruff came for his last help and instructions, and 
at 9.20 I was off on the train for South Bethlehem (the seat of 
Lehigh University). 

'^ At Tamaqua I got a piece of pie and a glass of milk. On 
reaching South Bethlehem, I found that my kind host. Bishop 
Rulison, had been suddenly called away by the long-expected 
death of his mother. Knowing that I was depended upon to 
prepare the Letter of Consecration of the Packer Memorial Church 
next day, I started at once, without bite or sup, for the Univer- 
sity buildings, meeting Dr. Lamberton on the way, who told me 
that he would soon return. I went to work — after long waiting — 
about six o'clock, in the drawing-room of the University, with gas 
burners too high above me to give me much light ; with a very 
poor supply of light I managed, however, to finish the work in 
time. ' ' 

The election to the Alumni Lectureship was rejected by the 
Trustees ; the votes being equally divided. Thus it was that the 
old scores against him were paid off. In the winter of 1887-88 
he visited California, and spent some happy weeks with his 
brother Caspar, at Pasadena, The election was repeated, and once 
more it was rejected. Thus was closed ruthlessly the public 
career of this able, brilliant, and self-sacrificing son of the Church 
after a suspense of two years, which effectually shut him out from 
all occupations. The Bishops had their revenge for 187 1. Tan- 
tcene animis ccElestibus ircB? The action was an outrage in every 
sense. In the first place the fund had been raised by the Seminary 
Alumni, and by all rules of custom their nominations should have 
been ratified. But furthermore, according to his powers and op- 
portunities, no one had ever done more for the Seminary than Dr. 
Hopkins. He had defended it again and again from the attack 
of some of the very bishops who now voted against him. It was 
an era of good feeling. The sharp edge of controversy had soft- 
ened down on all sides. Men once proscribed and feared had 
been advanced to the episcopate with the consent of the whole 
Church, and yet, he, who had done no more, and done that openly 
and above board, was forbidden to exercise his rare gifts in teach- 
ing the candidates for orders. It is hard to refrain from writing 
with severity, and of characterizing these shameful acts as they 
deserve. But he forgave, although he was bitterly grieved and 
disappointed, and the very sharpest rebuke ever administered by 



222 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

him to the writer was when he, in the course of a letter to Dr. 
Hopkins, expressed his feehngs in the matter. Yet one thing may 
be said that may perhaps help the chief actors in the affair to real- 
ize how complete their revenge was, when they know that he who 
resigned a living and a competence in order that physical work 
beyond his power might be better done by some other, although 
perfectly competent for the mental work of the case, and whose 
generosity had ever kept him poor, was in his old age left working 
all day in the libraries of New York on some contemplated books 
for the Church, and obliged to barter his books for lodging in the 
Diocesan House. He writes thus, March 10, 1890 : " The sorting 
and distributing of my books has been a tedious and wearisome 
work. About 550 volumes I have given to the General Theolog- 
ical Seminary library, and I received a handsome note of thanks 
from Dean Hoffman this morning for the gift. My architectural 
works I have given mainly to my architect nephew, Fred. Camp, 
who is very glad to get them. Others I shall give to my name- 
sake, John Henry, Theodore's son. The rest I shall give to the 
library here, in the See House, they in return giving me the use 
of two rooms as long as I want them. A week or two more, and 
I shall be at j)iy own work once more. Whittaker has agreed to 
publish in a small volume my two Review articles on Mgr. 
Capel, and my last article on my dear friend Littledale's ' Pet- 
rine Claims.' I have at last got through with the proof of Dr. 
Dean's Lectures on the Evidences." 

April 19, 1890. " I think I told you I had been nominated 
for that Alumni professorship the third time, by a majority of 
two to o?te, and had then witJuirawn my name.'''' 

May 29, 1890. — '* Yesterday, on starting for the General 
Theological Seminary, to attend the Commencement, I was 
knocked down in Broadway by a Broadway railroad car, and 
bruised somewhat on the lower part of the back. I could not get 
up without help, which was promptly given me, and I went up 
to the Seminary and robed for the procession. Coming down 
the library steps in procession, I thought I had reached the bot- 
tom when I had not, and as my knees were weak owing to my 
former accident, they gave way and down I went full length, 
the second time within an hour ! This time, however, I was not 
hurt, and went on through all the services without any further 
catastrophe. At the Alumni breakfast on Tuesday, I was called 
out for a speech, and received longer and louder applause than 
any of the other speakers — even the Bishop of New York. At 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 223 

the Commencement dinner I was again called out by the Dean, 
and the same preponderating applause was given. There is noth- 
ing but kindness shown me. Dr. Cady, whom / nominated for 
that Alumni professorship, received from the Alumni one hun- 
dred and fifteen votes out of one hundred and fifty-five — some 
seven still voting for me, notwithstanding my withdrawal, /was 
chairman of the committee to carry the nomination to the 
Trustees, which I did with not a little satisfaction. I leave for 
Burlington this afternoon, where on Sunday I am to preach at 
the ordination of my nephew John Henry, whose course in the 
Seminary has been brilliant. He makes friends everywhere. I 
shall spend a few days with my doctor on my return." 

Alas ! the ' ' few days ' ' were all he had on earth, and they 
were stretched out to fourteen months of weariness and toil. 

June 20, 1890. — '' Here I am (Troy, N. Y.), and likely to 
remain I cannot tell how long. My dear good Dr. Ferguson is 
ready to keep me as long as I will stay, and does everything for 
me that he can. But it seems to me that I do not get better, 
but slowly and steadily worse all the time. That fall did me 
serious injury, I am satisfied. My shortness of breath and phys- 
ical weakness are both much worse, and so is the swelling of my 
legs. I brought my historical note-book with me, about Icono- 
clasm, and have begun to write my book ; but it is desperate hard 
work ! I cannot work as I used to do ! I am afraid I shall 
never get my book done ! ' ' 

To Rev. Charles F. Sweet, July 31, 1890. — ''My doctor 
gives me no hope that I shall live long enough to finish my book. 
I therefore leave it to you — I wish to send you the Notes I have 
made (all in pencil), the manuscript as far as finished, in ink, 
and leave it to you to work out as best you can. 

' ' Yours, weaker and weaker, 

"H." 

To Miss Susan Hall, September 8, 1890. — '' I spent a month 
at Hudson," amid charming scenery and kind friends ; but the 
larger part of the time sitting all day long in my own room, with 
my bare feet in a basin, dripping, dripping, dripping — not much 
to make a letter of ! I get slowly but steadily weaker, and more 
good-for-nothing, and writing comes harder — I am so sluggish ! 
But no pain or suffering worth mentioning. I have good ap- 



224 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

petite for three square meals of victuals and drink, and sleep well 
o' nights, and it seems ridiculous that I should be so sick ! But 
when I wish to walk or make any exertion I soon find out how 
weak I am. How long this is to last I cannot guess ! But I 
never feel the slightest disposition to be impatient. My only feel- 
ing is regret that I shall not be able to accomplish so many things 
that I have had in my head and heart to do. But they were all 
for the Church. It is the Lord's business, not my own ; and if 
I cannot do it, doubtless He will find somebody else who will do 
it better than I should." 

To the Rev. E. M. Pecke, October 8, 1890.— '' Thanks for 
your kind note, and especially for having remembered me so ten- 
derly at your daily celebration. My physician gives me no hope 
of recovery; but my complaint — one of the varieties of Bright's 
disease — is painless, and I suffer only weakness and weariness. 
These will increase till the end comes, in a few weeks or montlis. 
I am with my dear friend, Dr. Ferguson, who came into the 
Church under my ministry, with his whole family, more than 
twenty years ago, and if I were his own father he could not show 
me more affection. ' ' 

To his sister, Mrs. T. H. Canfield, November 29, 1890. — 
*' What do you write me such tender, touching letters for ? They 
are almost more than I can stand. I try to look upon death only 
as passing from one room into another. I have no sense oi parting 
from those I leave behind. Probably, where I go, I shall be able 
to serve them even better than I ever could here. The separa- 
tion will only be for a few years anyhow — perhaps fewer than we 
think for, and then we shall all be together again, to part no 
more forever ! " 

To the same, December 23, 1890. — *' Growing weaker, 
weaker, day by day, is all I have to say. I wish I could drop in 
on you all on Christmas Day ! — But by and by — we shall all be 
together to part no more." 

To Miss Hall, February 5, 1891. — "You need not pity me 
at all. You suffer more in one day than I have in all my illness 
put together. I am quite contented, and more thankful than I 
can well express that the dear Lord deals so tenderly with me. 
The only thing that really worries me is, that my good doctor's 
care is making me a burden to himself and family so much longer 
than I expected. But, as I tell him, it is all his own doing ! 
and he laughs, and does it some more ! I have every comfort, 
and can always read, day or night, even when I do not feel 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f y^^^^^ Henry Hopkitis. 225 

strong enough to write. And Dr. Tucker calls to see me two 
or three times a week, and brings me English Church papers 
and reviews, and books, to read. There never was a man in my 
position more comfortably taken care of." 

To a friend, April 7, 1891. — " As to your question whether 
it is justice or mercy we are to expect, I would advise you to 
learn by heart the one hundred and thirty-sixth psalm, where 
every verse ends 'for His mercy endureth forever,' and then 
hunt the good book through, from cover to cover, and see if you 
can fmd it anywhere even once, that 'His justice endureth for- 
ever. ' Consider also, how we are told that ' mercy rejoicefh 
over judgment,' and see if you can find even one place where 
the rejoicing goes the other way. The bruised reed He will not 
break, and the smoking flax He will not quench, and you ought 
to be ashamed of yourself for even suspecting that He would ! 
But all these difficulties are only your nerves and wot yourself / 

'' P.S. I have just had a letter from the editor of the Inde- 
pendent, clipping a sentence from my Eclectic article about the 
Americanizing of the Church of Rome in this country, and ask- 
ing me to write more fully about it. So I wrote him an article 
yesterday. When it will appear I cannot say, probably this 
week or next." 

The Independent, May 7, 1891. 

CHANGES IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

BY J. H. HOPKINS, D.D. 

'' ^ Semper eadem,'' as we all know, is the claim of the Church 
of Rome: ^Always the same,'' although everyone acquainted 
with Church history knows that it is untrue in fact. There is 
very considerable difference between the Church of Pope Alexan- 
der VI. and the Church of Pope Leo XIII., and there is no slight 
difference between the Roman Church of Leo XIII. and that of 
Cardinal Gibbons, of Baltimore. The Church of Rome in this 
country is slo^vly but steadily being modified by its environ- 
ment, and the entire results of that change are healthful for the 
present, and encouraging for the future. 

" This is seen in doctrine, in discipline, and in worship. 

"It is seen in doctrine, because the bulk of the population of 
this country being Protestant, the Roman preachers have in mind 
IS 



226 A CJiampion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

constantly the possibility of some Protestants being among their 
hearers — especially in their larger and more influential congrega- 
tions — and they are esjoecially anxious not to offend them too 
sharply. Often an entire sermon may be heard from a Roman 
pulpit which might be preached in one of ours without the change 
of a word. In other cases, there is only a sentence or two out 
of the way, which might easily be omitted without being missed. 
Meanwhile, the more odious or corrupt dogmas are seldom 
touched on, and then but lightly. In this way, though the 
preachers themselves may be thoroughgoing, yet the multitudes 
taught are gradually being shaped by the modified teaching, 
whether or no. And it cannot be helped. 

''In discipline similar influences are at work. Nationality is 
seen to be an unmanageable element. When our Roman Catho- 
lic population was nearly all Irish, it was comparatively easy to 
have them politically controlled by the priesthood. But here, 
Fenianism has been a great and undesigned blessing. The 
Pope cares a great deal more for the influence of England 
than for that of Ireland, and to please England is willing to 
help to put down the national aspirations of the Irish. But 
whenever a sharp clash has come, politics is on top, and the 
Pope is on the under side. So, too, when the Roman popula- 
tion of a town is part Canadian and part Irish, it is almost im- 
possible to make them train in the same political party. If the 
Irish are Democrats, the Canadians will be Republicans. And 
similar discrepancies will be found where there are masses of 
Romanists of German, or Hungarian, or Italian, or Polish na- 
tionality. The national element is always the stronger of the 
two. What Papal leadership means was shown not long ago 
when the Pope came out against the Knights of Labor, and Car- 
dinal Gibbons went to Rome, converted the Pope from the error 
of his ways, and turned him up on the other side. 

''In worship, too, there are healthful changes going on. In 
the prominence given to the ordinance of preaching, American 
Romanism is already very difl'erent from the ordinary practice of 
old Roman Catholic countries. And they are learning to give 
more and more of their service in English, so that their people 
can more intelligently take part. And this tendency will grow 
stronger and stronger. 

" Their laity, too, are learning to come to the front with no lit- 
tle force and point. Great pecuniary scandals, such as that of 
Archbishop Purcell's brother in Ohio, are gradually opening the 



1874-91-] ^V^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 227 

eyes of their laity, and they are slowly but steadily gaining a po- 
sition in which they can help to manage the vast properties to 
which they wholly contribute. In the independent expression 
of opinion, too, they are making themselves felt most strikingly, 
as was seen at the great celebration with which the Roman Uni- 
versity at Washington was inaugurated. 

' ' Another important point must not be overlooked. The 
* miracles ' like those of Lourdes and La Salette, which are so 
prominent a feature in foreign Romanism, do not happen here. 
If they are needed for the conversion of unbelievers, there is no 
country where they would be more advisable. But whenever 
anything of the kind has been started here, it has always been in 
some out-of-the-way rural locality, and at once the mandate has 
come down from headquarters: 'Stop that! that won't do in 
this country ! ' and the ' miracles ' always stop at once. 

" Our pubhc school system, too, has been the means of soften- 
ing to a very great degree the intense prejudices of thousands of 
Romanists, opening their minds and hearts in all their after-life 
in a way that they would otherwise never have known. 

" Perhaps the most powerful influence of all — though it is 
really only the sum of all — is in the position which their leading 
cardinals, prelates and priests are compelled to take, in regard to 
the fundamental principles of American liberty. When Cardinal 
Gibbons proclaims from the housetops that the Roman Church 
has always been 'the zealous promoter of religious liberty,' we 
should like to see his Eminence study up the History of the In- 
quisition ! And when he boasts of Magna Charta as the work of 
his Church, he seems to forget that the Archbishop Langton, 
who led in that noble work, was excommunicated by the Pope 
for doing it ! and that the same Pope declared Magna Cha?^ta to 
he null and void; but nobody minded his brutumfulmen then, 
any more than they do now. To be sure, in order to talk like 
American citizens, the Cardinal and all the rest of them are com- 
pelled to go dead against the Encyclical and Syllabus, and ever 
so much more ; but they do it ; they do it unanimously ; and all 
their people- go with them most heartily. In all these things, 
and many more, they are really approximating the re-union of 
Christendom, whether they know it or not. And as the first and 
the worst of the evils that brought about the ^wunion of Chris- 
tendom were of Roman origin, those of us who can see these 
healthy changes going on may surely thank God and take cour- 
age." 



228 A Champion of tJie Cross. [1874-91. 

To the Rev. C. F. Sweet, April 17, 1891. — ''At last I have 
jiist recovered j^ossession of the letter from the late learned Bishop 
Christopher Wordsworth, of Lincoln, in answer to one from me 
in which I gave him my view of the Iconoclastic Controversy. 
He calls it, you see, my ' wise and original remarks on the true 
solution of the Iconoclastic Controversy ; ' and adds that if he 
should live to write of that period he should ' certainly avail my- 
self of them.' . . . The original scrawl of the learned Bishop 
you can keep as an autograph, showing how wonderfully great 
scholars can write ! 

' ' My good doctor still keeps me on more vigorously than I 
could have expected. I am just recovering from rather a severe 
down turn. I have not left this room since last September. 
But it seems probable that I may yet last some weeks or months. 
God's will be done ! " 

It was indeed God's will to let him linger some months after 
that time. Once more he made his voice heard in behalf of Dr. 
Phillips Brooks, when he was assailed in a spirit, as he deemed 
it, of unfairness and narrow bigotry. 

Dr. Hopkins did not indeed realize from what spirit some of 
the opposition to that election arose. He considered it to be a 
skirmish on the lines of the old issue between High Church and 
Low. In justice to those men it should even here be noted that 
the issues were deeper and more radical 1;han the former. It was 
no question of methods, but of first principles. Dr. Brooks was 
assailed as representative of a party which, while accepting the 
formularies of the Church in their own private interpretation of 
them refuses to take them in the sense in which the Church im- 
poses them. Whether Dr. Brooks was justly obnoxious to the 
charge of disloyalty is another question. It was assumed that 
he was, and the opposition arose from his known affiliation 
with the members of the so-called Broad (but really, narrow 
and illiberal) faction, and because of the constantly made asser- 
tion of Unitarians and others who sympathized with them that he 
was at heart one with them. Besides these, in dealing with the 
expression of Catholic truths his teaching was so carelessly framed 
that he had been suspected of holding the received and tradi- 
tional doctrines of the Church in shght esteem, while even in 
the words to which he was compelled to give his assent he never 
set forth their strongest sense. After the election, and while 
the confirmation w^as still in question, he was asked in various 



1874-91-] ^^f^ ^f 7^^^^^ Henry Hopkins. 229 

ways to give some explanation of certain of his words and acts, 
but this he steadfastly refused to do, leaving his whole past to 
speak for itself. That there certainly was color for the suspi- 
cion against his loyalty to the Faith in the three particulars of 
belief in the eternal Deity of Jesus Christ, and consequently in 
the Trinity ; the universal need of redemption, and the impossi- 
bility of salvation without a Divine Saviour, and of its applica- 
tion by sacraments ; and lastly in the divine organization of the 
ministry of the Catholic Church in its triple order of bishops, 
priests, and deacons, is plain from the fact that his opponents 
were by no means confined to any one school in the Church, but 
numbered bishops of all shades of opinion from the High Church 
in its extreme representatives, to the very limits of the Low 
Church. 

The brave and faithful warning conveyed to him by his own 
near friend, the Bishop of New York, in the sermon preached at 
his consecration, is of itself a striking evidence of the doctrinal 
defects of Dr. Brooks. 

Dr. Hopkins, keen as he was, never saw that the lines which 
divide men in the Church had changed their direction since he 
was in the thick of the contest. He believed that the High 
Churchmen had so mastered the field that the battle was to be 
thenceforth between the old " High and Dry " Churchmen, and 
the '' Catholic" Churchmen. 

The Low Churchmen of other days had indeed been scat- 
tered, and some of the most earnest of them driven from the 
Church, unable longer to conceal from themselves the discrepancy 
between their beliefs and the teaching of the Church. But most 
of the radical wing remained, and during the era of good feeling 
which prevailed after 1877 reorganized their broken ranks, and 
entrenched themselves behind their interpretation of the Church 
Creed, and in a {^\n years prepared to renew the struggle. This 
time they wasted no strength on sentiment, but attacked from 
within the very seats of life of the Catholic Church, nay of every 
Christian sect which believes still in the need of a Saviour for 
humanity, and thus endeavored to paralyze the Catholic body 
by the subtle poison of rationalism. These plotters of trea- 
son were acting from the same principles which have so many 
advocates in the various sects of Protestants, where indeed those 
principles have their native home. To them rallied increasing 
numbers from all sides in the Church, and not a few are men 
who at one time or another have been conspicuous figures among 



230 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

the advanced Churchmen. The ''tendency to palter with the 
serious meaning of words which is one of the serious diseases of the 
times," to use the words of a distinguished Unitarian minister of 
Boston, has so deeply affected the vitality of even those who are 
faithful to the Church, that the growth of the dishonest Broad 
Church party has become sturdy and vigorous. That they must 
be cast out of the Church which they aim to overturn is evident. 

It was his known friendship for members of this revolutionary 
faction and the unmistakable drift of his teaching which caused 
the opposition to the election of Dr. Brooks to the episcopate. 

Dr. Hopkins never saw the danger, or dreamed that there 
could be danger. Thus he seized upon some absurd expressions 
antagonistic to the confirmation of that election, and, rousing 
himself from his death-bed raised one more clear appeal, this 
time addressed to his old companions in arms, for justice and fair 
dealing. All honor is due to him for this last act of magna- 
nimity ; though the sole result to him was practical forgetfulness 
of his own just claims to reverence from some members of the 
Catholic school, who could not even find a place for his name in 
the monthly intercessions of a society which prays for the souls of 
all clergymen who die in the faith : thus intimating their own 
opinion that he was not one of the " faithful departed." It was 
high time that some call should be heard that should arouse men 
from a narrow bigotry like that. 

[This incident has been dwelt upon for the sake of history, 
and as an attempt toward justifying the action of a much con- 
temned member in the Church. Personally the writer cannot 
believe that Dr. Brooks was in heart disloyal to the faith, not- 
withstanding 'his words. If the episcopate was a reward for dis- 
tinguished service his deep personal merits and singular purity of 
soul would have entitled him to it. But the episcopate is for 
the Church, and the evils dreaded have already made their ap- 
pearance in the increased vigor of liberalism in the Church.] 

Dr. Hopkins wrote thus to a friend, who wrote to him in re- 
monstrance : 

"June 8, 1891. — My dear Edward: As you know, I am an 
old soldier, and if there is any one thing I know, it is how to 
fight a Church battle. A fundamental rule is never to fight a 
controversial battle on the personal question of the promotion of 
an individual, especially if he be a man of popularity and power. 
I am now talking pure politics. Nine men think they under- 



1874-91-3 ^^f^ of John Henry Hopkins. 231 

stand a personal question to every oJie man who understands a 
doctrinal issue. The Low Church brought down the Onder- 
donks, and thought they had beaten the Oxford movement ; but 
they hadn't. When Seymour and DeKoven were cheated out of 
their confirmation the stupids were sure they had beaten the ad- 
vanced movement. But Seymour is a Bishop, and so would 
DeKoven have been had he lived : and Father Grafton is a 
Bishop, which none of us would have anticipated in that day. 
Always show the keenest recognition of the constitutional iHghts 
of other parties in the Church. I did the same thing when some 
of our stupid friends tried to stop confirmation of Bishop Jaggar 
on the ground of his having signed a letter of sympathy with 
Cheney. I came out also in defence of Eccleston when he was 
attacked : and on the simple ground that so long as there were 
different parties in our comprehensive Church, a7ty diocese had a 
right to the kind of Bishop it wanted. If the opposition to 
Brooks should succeed, what would be the result? In twelve 
months the strength of the Broad Church party would be doubled. 
No, no ! The fair, square, manly, brotherly handling of all per- 
sonal questions is the best. Fight doctrinal issues by themselves. 
I am so sure I am right in this matter that I would do it over 
again if I were certain that it would cost me every friend I have 
in the world ! And I doubt not that it is partly in answer to 
your prayers and remembrances that I have been enabled to do 
my duty." 

Two months longer he lingered, slowly growing weaker and 
weaker. But in all the hours of weariness he never lost his 
cheery good humor, his loving patience, his trust in God, and 
his calm assurance of the mercy of the Lord reserved for him in 
the waiting chamber, and the perfecting of his redemption at the 
resurrection of the just. 

God and His holy will were always set before him, and he had 
no fear. As a child he had a dream which at the age of twenty- 
one he wrote down in verse. It had a remarkable influence over 
his life, and shaped it by its sweetness. 

THE DREAM OF A CHILD. 

When I was but a little boy, 

In long gone days of yore, 
Two old contemporary trees 

Grew close beside our door. 



232 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. i 

We named the locust " Father," for 

High rose his towering head, 
And his far-reaching branches wide 

Their grateful shadow spread. ; 

I 
Close by his side a mulberry- tree, ' 

We children called it "Mother," 
Seemed with her broad-leaf 'd foliage 

Embosomed in the other. j 

I 
In winter's storm, in summer's shine, 
Still side by side they stood ; 
" Father " and " Mother " we loved best j 

In all the good green wood. 1 

And under their protecting shade 

We played in sunny weather ; 
While over us, like loving arms, ' 

They twined their boughs together. ■ 

One night I laid me down to sleep, 

And in my dreams I saw I 

A wondrous sight, that thrilled my soul 1 

With fond religious awe. I 

I 

Under those loved old trees methought, 

And in their double shade, \ 

I saw a lofty wall run round ' 

Of solid silver made. ' 

High rose its purfled pinnacles 

Of bright and burnished sheen, ! 

Until they hid their shining heads '[ 

Among the mingled green. , 

Upon the eastern side, a gate I 

Of fretted gold was placed, i 

And studded thick with precious stones I 

That in the sunbeams blazed : < 

The diamond bright, the sapphire blue, 

The emerald so green. 
The ruby red, the onyx stone, 

And topaz there were seen. 

i 
And when this sparkling splendor shone ] 

Before my wondering eyes, i 

I thought 'twas New Jerusalem J 

Descended from the skies ^ 



1874-91-] ^l/^ ^f John Henry Hopkins. 233 

Long time I gazed, then kneeling down 

Upon the grass-grown floor, 
As when I said my evening prayer, 

I knocked upon the door. 

Straightway it opened ; and I saw 

A Man before me stand, 
Who spoke to me with kindly voice, 

And took me by the hand. 

His eyes were like my Mother's eyes, 

His voice like Father's seemed ; 
'Twas Jesus ! for around His head 

A radiant glory beamed. 

He took me in His gracious arms, 

And I sat on His knee ; 
Sure even a soul in Paradise 

Never more blest could be. 

And there the twelve Apostles were, 

A venerable band : 
Four listening stood before their Lord, 

And four on either hand. 

He told me that the Saints around 

His Father's throne on high 
Once lived upon our earth, and once 

Were children such as I. 

And when He blessed me, as I sat 

Upon His sacred knees, 
I heard sweet sounds above my head, 

Among the broad green leaves. 

'Twas not the little birds, I knew. 

That in the branches sang ; 
But golden harps, with angel tongues. 
In joyous concert rang. 

And "Alleluia " loud they sung 

As they sang long ago ; 
And " Glory be to God on high. 

Good-will to men below ! " 

Brothers and sisters all, outside, 

Invited me to play ; 
Father and Mother called to me, 

And chid my long delay. 



234 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

I answered not : for God had touched 

My heart with holy fire ; 
How could I leave my Jesus' arms, 

Or that angelic choir ? 

And listening to the symphonies 

Of their entrancing theme, 
I sank to sleep : and when I woke, 

Behold ! it was a dream. 

A dream ! Oh, 'twas a blessed dream 

I never can forget ! 
And though long years have o'er me rolled 

Its echoes haunt me yet. 

When life's sad labors all are o'er, 

And I lie down to rest ; 
Oh, let me fall asleep at last, 

Asleep on Jesus' breast ! 

There let me rest — to Jesus' breast 

By guardian-spirits borne ; 
Till loud the angel-trump shall wake 

The Resurrection-morn. 



Then I shall join the marriage train, 
With boughs of victor-palm, 

And sing the everlasting song 
Of Moses and the Lamb. 



This Dream of a Child (he says in the preface to his " Poems 
by the Wayside," pubhshed in 1883) ''was a real dream that 
came to me at least as early as my ninth year — perhaps earlier. 
// left an indelible imp7'ession. The trees mentioned — the locust 
and the mulberry — grew near the door of my father's house in 
Allegheny City, near Pittsburgh." During one of those last 
nights on earth he had such another vision of the peace and calm 
and rest of Paradise, and in the midst of it was the same Jesus of 
the child's dream, with " eyes like Mother's eyes, and voice that 
seemed like Father's voice." 

Thus near and sweet were God and all God's ways with him 
ever. 

There was but one more incident which may illustrate that ele- 
ment in his character which was little known to the world, but which 



1874-91-] ^lA of Jolin Henry Hopkins. 235 

it has been one chief purpose of this work to show : his capacity 
for deep personal affection and attachment. The daughter of his 
loving physician (h\s spiritual son) was to be married. He had 
baptized her, and naturally, from every reason, he was interested 
deeply in the affair. She told him, as time passed on and life 
still remained to him, that she had hoped to be married by him. 
His pleasure was marred for a time by the fear he might not 
live until the appointed time. But, as months went by, hope 
arose, and finally, a few weeks before his death, with the assistance 
of Dr. J. I. Tucker, of the Church of the Holy Cross, at Troy, 
he was able to perform the ceremony — a ceremony made notable 
by his venerable appearance, and his determination to perform it, 
though obliged to do so sitting, and marked by his comment 
that he had done all the good he could in the world, and he 
trusted the Lord would soon take him. Not many weeks after- 
ward he expressed a wish one night to go to bed somewhat earlier 
than was his custom, and, after being helped into his bed, in re- 
ply to Dr. Ferguson's question, whether he was comfortably 
arranged for the night, he assured him that he was, kissed him a 
good-night, and went into a quiet sleep, from which, after about 
four hours, without a struggle or change of position, he passed 
into that deeper rest that knows no end until the Day break and 
the shadows flee away. 

Thus it was that he passed away in peace in the early morning 
hours of the 14th of August. His body was carried to Burlington, 
and placed where his loved Father's body had been laid before 
the burial. The same vigil of prayer and solemn joy was kept 
near it. On the i8th, the Burial Service was said, the Sacrifice 
of our redemption was offered, and then the sacred relics were 
borne to the place long before made ready for them near the great 
Celtic Cross he had himself designed and erected to mark the 
sleeping-place of his Father, and there laid away in expectation of 
the mercy of God. 

So died one who served the Church with all his power with 
unwavering fidelity, complete unselfishness, and unstinted devo- 
tion. Nor was his interest centred in her alone. No son of the 
American Church has had a loftier enthusiasm for humanity or a 
humbler love for God. 

It was the accident of the time and circumstances that made 
his name known chiefly as a keen controversialist, though he had 
all the natural gifts that fitted him for the militant Church. For 
he was strong in human sympathy, and felt no enmity toward 



236 A Champion of the Cross. [1874-91. 

the persons with whom he joined issues. At any time he would 
have served at cost of great personal inconvenience one with 
whom he may have been in very lively controversy, though no 
such merciful measure was meted out to him. Sometimes, indeed, 
he wounded, and wounded deeply, but it was because he seemed 
to forget that principles have their embodiment in men. In his 
conflicts he was aiming simply to serve the Church. In his mind 
she was nothing less than a lawful, organic part of the Catholic 
Church. And if he exalted her, it was not that she might glory 
in her power as if given for herself, but because he who is in the 
possession of power is made capable of higher, wider, fuller 
service ; and if this be true of men, much more is it true of God's 
Church if she is to be faithful to her trust. All his plans were 
in order to her complete enfranchisement that so she might work 
for the good of all men, and, in the words of an Evangelical 
clergyman who lived in the same city (of WiUiamsport), yet " he 
was not partisan in the narrow, petty sense of the word. Though 
he might be caustic in exposure of what he deemed our weak- 
nesses, he was never malevolent, and never sectarian in his de- 
nial of an equal place for Evangelical and broad Churchman in a 
comprehensive body. He was not underhand, secretive, politic ; 
on the contrary, he was frank and straightforward, so unsuspicious 
as to be often the cause of his own defeat. ' ' With this last expres- 
sion of opinion agree the words of Dr. Hugh Miller Thompson, the 
present Bishop of Mississippi — that "he had the first character- 
istic of genius ; he was a boy all the days of his life, fresh, unso- 
phisticated, unworldly. It came to us, in God's guiding of our 
lives, to stand opposed in crises of the Church's history. The 
friendship, the affection, were never touched. I wrote him once, 
at such a time, telling him I should in conscience oppose his 
views with all my power, but I wanted him to understand that 
nothing of that sort could change the deep regard I had for John 
Henry Hopkins. His reply was characteristic. '■ You and I 
are too accustomed to square fighting to think less of each other 
for a fair blow. ' He always fought with his visor up, a knightly 
opponent. There was no malice, no bitterness. Indeed, instead, 
a cheery boyish enjoyment of the intellectual fray. Except 
Washburn, I never knew a man so incapable of understanding 
how an honest attack on his opinion could be construed into 
anything personal. I cannot let his going pass without my 
humble tribute to a man dear to me, a friend to whom personally 
I owe much of what I have myself thought, or said, that may be 



1874-91-] 



Life of John Henry Hopkins. 



237 



of any worth ; to a gentle soul, much misunderstood, as men of 
genius often are ; to a thinker who has left his mark for all time 
on the Church of his baptism, and to a Christian knight fallen 
with his armor on." 




MONUMENT OF BISHOP HOPKINS, UNDER WHICH LIE THE REMAINS 
OF THE BISHOP AND HIS WIFE. 



Dr. John Henry Hopkins' grave is at the right, in a line with the two trees 
in the foreground. 



APPENDIX. 



Dr. Hopkins found a way to make his argument for small dioceses 
tell in many questions of Church policy. Before the meeting of Gen- 
eral Convention in 1889, the question of proportionate representation 
was discussed in all the Church newspapers, and, in this Dr. Hopkins 
took a certain share. It was summarily dismissed when brought into 
General Convention. Nevertheless, the principle will probably come 
up again in Diocesan Conventions. He was strongly in favor of the 
movement, and if his conclusion that " the way to secure proportional 
representation — or an approximation thereto — is, not by charging the 
ratio of representation, but by the subdivision of large dioceses," be 
accepted by the Church, there is this correlative principle that, if State 
dioceses are subdivided their unity of action in General Convention 
will, to a great degree, be furthered by their being united in State 
Provinces. As to graduated representation in Diocesan Conventions 
his words ought to be recorded. 



"GRADUATED REPRESENTATION. 

" To the Editor of The Churchman : 

"It is with no little interest that I have watched the discussion in 
your columns, and in others of our Church papers, concerning gradu- 
ated representation. And I have seen, with special satisfaction, that it 
does not run at all upon party lines. It is an old question with me. 
In my father's diocese of Vermont, the graduated representation of the 
laity has been the law for more than fifty years, and has done no harm 
that I ever heard of. In Central Pennsylvania, on my motion, the 
same principle was embodied in the constitution of that diocese, and 
works equally well there. Nor have I seen anything alleged on the 
other side which even tempts me to change the convictions of years. 

" There are three points to which I would call special attention. 

" The first is, that the title of our General Convention is not ' the 
bishops and dioceses ' of the Church in General Convention assem- 
bled ; but ' the bishop, clergy, and laity.' And this is further enforced 
by the rule of order which provides for a vote ' by orders,' when the 
clergy vote separately, and the laity separately, as distinct orders ; the 
bishops also having their separate vote always, as a House. This 
mode of voting agrees with the title. If, however, the dioceses are to 
be represented as such, why should the bishops vote in a separate 
House ? If that theory be correct, then the bishops should sit with 



240 A Cha^npion of the Cross. 

the clerical and lay deputies from their own dioceses, and vote with 
them. This is an Episcopal Church, and to take the vote of a diocese 
when its bishop is shut off in another House, is hardly a church-like 
way of doing business. 

" And in the Upper House the bishops do not vote ' by dioceses ;' 
for if they did, then a diocesan bishop and his assistant would jointly 
have but one vote, whereas now the assistant, having received ' the 
Holy Ghost for the office and work of a bishop in the Church of God,' 
has as full and complete a vote as any diocesan. Every domestic 
missionary bishop also has as full a vote as any diocesan bishop, for the 
same reason ; while the missionary jurisdictions in the other House 
have only a fractional representation, and even so can only speak on 
questions peculiarly concerning their own jurisdictions. 

" If legislation by dioceses is to be the rule, then, to be consistent, 
not only must our assistant bishops and missionary bishops be deprived 
of their full and equal vote in the Upper House, but the diocesan bish- 
ops must sit and vote with their own clerical and lay deputies, so that 
' the diocese ' may no longer be considered a ' diocese ' while acting 
vrithout its own head. 

" The present mode of voting in the Lower House, ' by dioceses,' 
is therefore not only inconsistent with the title of the General Conven- 
tion itself, but is absolutely irreconcilable with the mode of voting in 
the Upper House. 

" The second point on which I would insist is this. When it comes 
to the human arrangements for the government of the Church, it is 
only reason and common sense to take care that, where the Providence 
of God has put strength, there we should place responsibility. If, in 
our arrangements, we place responsibility where the providence of God 
has placed weakness, what can we expect but weakness as the result ? 
The proposal to raise in three years a centennial million of dollars for 
missions, was easity carried through General Convention, with as near 
an approach to a ' hurrah ' as could be expected in so grave and sedate 
a body. But how much of success did the three years produce } The 
flabbiness of much of our synodical practical work, both in diocesan 
and General Conventions, is due to the fact that our laity are not 
fairly and equally represented, and therefore the vote is no fair expres- 
sion of the true momentum of the order. The evil is felt in nearly all 
our dioceses as well as in General Convention. When a little mission- 
ary parish of a score of communicants has an equal vote, in all things, 
with a parish of five hundred or one thousand communicants, what does 
a vote in convention, involving exertion or sacritice of any sort, amount 
to ? The majority of those voting have not the power to carr)' out the 
resolution which they vote so easily, and ever\^body knows it. Those 
who have the power know that they are not fairly represented in the 
voting body, and feel little or no obligation to carry its votes into ef- 
fect. On our present system, we have organized weakness, instead of 
organized strength. And we are coming to feel it more and more, as 
the unequal growth of dioceses makes the inequalities more and more 
apparent. 



Appendix. 241 

" The third point is this. The Church is not an abstract phrase. 
The Church is a body of Hving persons, who have received the grace of 
God for the work He calls on them to do. The bishop, at his consecra- 
tion, ' receives the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a bishop in 
the Church of God.' The priest, at his ordination, ' receives the Holy 
Ghost for the office and work of a priest in the Church of God.' The 
layman, at his confirmation, receives the Holy Ghost for the work of a 
layman — the priesthood of the laity. But who ever heard that a dio- 
cese received the Holy Ghost for the work of a diocese } In the ' pra^-er 
to be used at the meetings of convention ' we find this distinction 
clearly set forth. It is not a prayer for the diocese. The word diocese 
does not appear in it once. It is a prayer for ' the council of Thy 
Church here assembled in Thy name and presence.' And to show 
that the prayer is not for the corporate entity called a ' diocese,' the 
prayer goes on, ' Save them from all error, ignorance, pride, and preju- 
dice. . . . direct, sanctify, and govern us in our present work, by the 
mighty power of the Holy Ghost,' etc. And as all this relates to the 
persons, how comes it that the priests and laity of a small diocese 
should have twenty or thirty times as much legislative power as the 
priests and laity of a large diocese ? The thing is manifestly unequal 
and absurd. In order that representation may be fair and equal, if 
twenty priests in Arkansas can send four deputies to General Conven- 
tion, every body of twenty priests anywhere else in the United States 
should have the right to do the same. If two thousand communicants 
in West Virginia can send four lay deputies, every other body of two 
thousand communicants in the United States should have the right to 
do the same. Of all absurdities, none could be greater than to give to 
Arkansas or West Virginia twenty times as strong a representation as 
New York, and then say that all are equally represented ! 

" I could say much more, but I forbear, only expressing my sincere 
gratification that the discussion of the question is so entirely free from 
party feeling of every sort. Another suggestion I would venture to 
make, and that is, that the inequality of our present s^^stem of rep- 
resentation must be corrected in our diocesan conventions, before 
there will be any chance of carrying a reform in General Convention. 
And also, our larger dioceses will find it much easier to get something 
like equal representation in General Convention, by subdividing, than 
in any other way. In this way the State of New York has already se- 
cured five deputations, and could easily double the number. Pennsyl- 
vania has three and needs at least as many more. Illinois has three ; 
Wisconsin, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, each have 
two. And the sooner other large dioceses do likewise, the sooner will 
they approximate to a fair and equal vote in the General Convention 
of the Church. 

"J. H. Hopkins." 

In advocating the principle of proportional representation, there are 
some points which ought not to be overlooked, though little or nothing 
has yet been said about them. 

16 



242 A Champion of the Cross. 

In the first place, if there is anything in the principle, it ought to be j 

applied wherever it is fairly applicable. In a diocese there is as much ' 

difference between large and small parishes as there is in the National ; 

Church between large and small dioceses. And so long as a diocese ' 

grants to its largest and strongest parish, in its own convention, only I 
an equal voice and vote with the smallest and feeblest, with what face 
can it approach the General Convention and demand a proportionate . \ 

representation there} The answer would be: "If you really believe I 
in the principle of proportionate representation, establish it in your own 
diocesan convention first, and then it will be time enough to take it up 

in General Convention." Until the dioceses, therefore, apply this prin- , 

ciple at home, it will be of no use to agitate for it elsewhere. \ 

Dr. Hopkins promoted this reform wherever he could ; the preced- ; 
ing paragraph, indicating that it was for dioceses to begin the work of 

reform in representation of the laity, led to some correspondence with ' 

Massachusetts clergymen who were in the mood to advance the work. i 

"January 19, 1889. — Proportionate representation of the laity has j 

existed for a long time in the diocese of Vermont, and on my motion I 

it has been adopted also in the diocese of Central Pennsylvania. In the | 
latter case, each incorporated parish is entitled to one lay deputy, and 

one additional lay deputy for each hundred communicants as reported I 

to the Convention next preceding : the laity in all cases, like the clergy, i 

voting as individuals. Thus every layman who attends counts. In , 

the other way, any one layman could cast the vote of the parish, and | 

there was no sufficient inducement for the other two to take the trouble . 

to attend. Moreover, as the lay representation is fixed by the parochial ' 

report at the Convention next preceding, any large parish which yVz/Zy ' 

to report thereby forfeits its additional deputies at the next convention, ' 

and drops down to the ' one ' of any incorporated parish. j 

" As to the basis, that of communicants is best. If you make your ' 

pecuniary assessments on the same basis, the one will correct the other. ^ 

If they are tempted sometimes to magnify their numbers for the sake | 

of additional deputies, they will also be tempted to reduce their num- | 

bers so as to reduce the assessment, and one will fairly offset the other. ' 

General Convention will not settle that question. They will let it alone. ' 

As to the general question, the aid of the Holy Spirit is given to the \. 

individual, and not to the 'incorporated parish' or 'diocese.' This ,■ 

truth followed up settles the whole question." In a second letter he ) 

writes : " Perhaps you will find it serviceable to remind your colleagues ; 
that those taking part in our Church councils are not, and never have 

been at any time, * bishops, clerg}^ 2X)A parishes,' but ' bishops, clergy, ^ 

and laity.' And as the bishops are reckoned as persons, and the clergy j 

as persons, the laity should also be considered as persons, and not \ 

simply as corporations owing their existence as such to the law of the j 

State. If this does not convince them, nothing will. How is it possible ' 
that State law should give to a civil corporation the right to vote in an 
ecclesiastical organization, whose powers (so far as the law of the land 
is concerned) are due solely to the consent of those taking part therein } 



Appendix. 243 

The laity are individuals who have become what they are not simply 
by any act performed by the civil corporation of a parish, but by the 
spiritual acts of baptism, confirmation, communion, and being under 
the spiritual jurisdiction of a clergyman of the Church." 

Two years later he wrote to the same clergyman, from his physician's 
house : " March 13, 1891. — . . . Thanks for the copy of your pro- 
posed changes as to lay representation. Nothing short of proportionate 
representation will cure the fliabbiness of our present lay order in Con- 
vention. As I am about quitting this earthly scene soon myself, it is a 
comfort to me to see others rising to defend the principles for which I 
have fought so long. God give you more success than He has given 
me ! Perhaps His time for it had not yet come. 

" Yr. obt. servt. in the Church, 

"J. H. Hopkins." 

"To the Rev. Reuben Kidner." 



RAIN, LIGHT, HEAT, AND SOIL. 

(Wheat No. 6.) 

Sermon 29. 

" The earth bringeth forth fruit of herself."— i"/". Mark iv. 28. 

" No battles about religion have been more fiercely contested than 
those fought to decide whether a man's believing unto salvation is 
God's work or his own. The leaders of the quarrel, on the one side, 
have been jealous for the Lord of Hosts and His Glory. They have 
been fearful lest pride and self-reliance should take the place of humil- 
ity and leaning upon God alone for salvation ; and lest men should, in 
the blindness of their conceit, undertake to work out their own salva- 
tion as a day-laborer earns his wages. They have, therefore, insisted 
that man's salvation is all God's work ; and in order to be sure that 
they had given God all the glor>% they have thought it necessar\^ to 
insist that man has nothmg to do in it but to be passive under the 
irresistible influences of the Spirit, They have accounted for the fact 
that some men believe while others do not, by saying that it was God's 
decree : that He elected some to salvation and others to the contrary, 
without the former being any more worthy of the boon than the latter. 
Anything short of this they have denounced as robbing God of His 
glory and giving it to man. The other side have been justly fearful 
lest a doctrine like this should make men grievously careless about ex- 
erting themselves in working out their own salvation ; and they have 
therefore enlarged so much upon the necessity of working, and of man's 
ability to work, and the freedom of his will to go about it, that they 
have run to the other extreme, and made God's grace as superfluous as 
their opponents had made man's good works. Thus the battle has 
raged, waxing from time to time loud and furious, now one party 
appearing to have the advantage, and now the other ; each fighting as 
if the existence of God's truth depended on his proving his adversary 
to be a fatalist or a papist, as the case might be. And all the while, 
the conflict has been as useless as that of the two foolish knights errant 
in the old fable, who fought long and hard to decide whether a certain 
shield were white or black ; and when they were both dying of their 
wounds they discovered that the shield was white upon the one side 
and black upon the other. 

" . . . An additional cause of mischief has been the disposition 
of many hard-headed intellects to decide spiritual truths as if they were 
mathematical problems ; or else treat them according to some common 



/ Appendix. 245 

philosophical axiom, rather than according to the Word of God. They 
have not grasped the higher Philosophy of Revelation, by which some- 
what of the nature of the ever-blessed and indivisible Trinity is con- 
veyed to those truths which that Trinity has created and revealed. 
The Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God ; 
yet there is but one God. So the work of our salvation is all Christ's 
work, and all the work of the Holy Spirit, and also it is all maiis work ; 
and yet there are not three works, but one only. This might be illus- 
trated even from the mathematics. A three-sided figure, for instance, 
is otie figure, yet its being a three-sided figure depends wholly upon 
each one of the sides, not upon any one of them more than another ; 
and the proof of it is, that if you take away one of those three sides it 
is no more a three-sided figure ; so that you could not destroy its three- 
sidedness any whit more completely by taking away the other two 
sides also. 

" The beautiful harmony of the plan of salvation finds its best illus- 
tration in the works of God, interpreted according to the indications 
given us in His own holy Word. In the parable of the Sower, the 
ground signifies viaiis part of the work in preparing for the day of 
judgment. And our text, if taken apart from other Scriptures, would 
seem to declare that man, of himself, of his own motion, and in his 
own strength, relying on his ow^n innate and merely natural powers, 
could bring forth fruit to perfection. It looks as if all other agency 
were expressly excluded. ' The earth,' saith our Lord, ' bringeth forth 
fruit of herself ; ' not by the aid of any other powder : and that not par- 
tially, or imperfectly, but completely, and from beginning to end : 
' first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.' What 
could declare more fully the sole sufficiency of man, in and by himself, 
to bring forth good fruit } Where can be the need, according to this 
text, of waiting for the grace of God } 

" Yet the reference to the operations of Nature— the very taking of 
her most ordinary work for an illustration, implies, by unavoidable 
necessity, all that is needed for the correction of this deadly error. 
When it is said, ' the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself,' the other 
agencies necessary to the result are not excluded, but included. And 
what these are, w^e shall proceed to inquire in their order. 

" The very parable itself shows that sowi7ig the seed is necessary. 
For, as the earth does not contain the seeds of all things lying self -pro- 
duced in the soil, so the heart of man has no innate knowledge of the 
Word and Will of God ; but a Revelation is necessary, and the teach- 
ing and preaching of that revelation by the ministry of the Church. 
Thus is the seed sown in the ground — that is, brought home to the 
heart, so that a man can, if he will, receive it and cause it to grow and 
bring forth fruit. But the earth is not sufficient to do this merely of 
herself. Suppose a corn of wheat deposited in earth that was perfect- 
ly dry, would it ever sprout } Most certainly not. Except to be de- 
voured or to decay, there it would remain unchanged even to the 
world's end. And so the heart of man, even when the Word is 
preached, if unaided by aught but its own merely mortal and natural 



246 A Chainpiofi of the Cross. 

powers, it could never cause the germ of spiritual life to spring ; it 
could never dream of bringing forth fruit unto perfection. 

" In the first place, then, the seed sown must have moisture from 
the rain and the dew. And this signifies the operation of the Spirit of 
God upon the heart, var}4ng, as the moisture varies, in its quantity and 
in the manner of application. Sometimes it is the invisible vapor in the 
air, the gentle breathing of a moist breath, the distilling of a silent dew 
upon the soul, yet without our being able to see or feel it except by its 
effects. At another time it is like the mist or fog — it is in the shape 
of doubts that come over the mind, confusing the outlines of all things. 
But if they only stimulate the doubting soul to a fresh study of the 
truth, and a renewed trust in God for the discovery of it, they are the 
sure signs of a clearer sunshine, and will be found to have watered 
the garden of the soul, like the mist that went up from the earth and 
watered all the Garden of Eden. Sometimes they are like soft refresh- 
ing showers, sometimes like hea\'y tempests that pour down almost re- 
sistlessly the torrents of their streams from heaven. How strikingly is 
this heavenly watering of God's heritage contrasted with the toilsome- 
ness and littleness and meanness of the watering by means of poor 
earthly contrivances, when Moses sets forth the difference between 
Eg}^pt and the Holy Land. For Egypt is the type of the world ; Pal- 
estine of the Church. In Eg}^pt it never rained, and the only means of 
supplying moisture to the soil was by the laborious drawing up of water 
in machines worked like treadmills, by the feet. These starveling 
streams were distributed along the fields in narrow channels or canals ; 
and so, with great labor and pains, and at great expense and trouble, a 
little water was obtained, which was never enough for the parched soil 
under the continual glare of an African sun. And is it not so with the 
cravings of the poor souls that wilt and parch in the glare of this 
world's sunshine — that depend for life and happiness on the artificial 
streams doled out from its machinery of tantalizing deceits ? At what 
cost and trouble, what pains and patient exertions, are wealth and hon- 
ors and distinctions obtained } What lavish outlay to secure pleasures 
that are absorbed in the very using, and leave rather a sting behind ! 
And all these paltry modes of irrigation — after all their costly labor — 
leave the soul as thirsty as before. But listen to the words of Moses, thus 
contrasting the world and the Church : ' The land, whither thou goest 
in to possess it,' said he, ' is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye 
came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, 
as a garden of herbs ; but the land whither ye go to possess it is a 
land of hills and valleys, and dri7iketh water of the rain of heaven ; 
a land which the Lord thy God careth for : the eyes of the Lord thy 
God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the 
end of the year.' Thus happy is the earth of the Holy Land ; thus 
favored is the heart that is open to the sweet influences poured out 
from the treasure-house of God upon His Church. Of that earth are 
the words of the Psalmist true : ' Thou visitest the earth and waterest 
it : thou greatly enrichest it with the River of God, which is full of 
water : . . . thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly : thou 



Appendix. 247 

settlest the furrows thereof : thou makest it soft with showers : thou 
blessest the springing thereof.' 

" But is it not enough that the earth be suppHed with water, and that 
from heaven ? What if the seed be buried in the moist earth too deep 
for the light to reach ? It will then decay without ever sending up its 
blade to the surface. Or, what if the moist earth, with its seed duly 
planted, be hid away in some dark cellar or cave, where no light can 
penetrate } Will that earth then bring forth fruit of herself"? Nay ! 
the germ may sprout and may shoot forth rapidly to a great size. But 
the pale, sickly growth will be monstrous in shape, without color or 
strength, without flower, seed, or fruit, and soon rotting in premature 
decay. So, without the light of knowledge, without the regular shining 
of God's Word into the soul day by day, what profits it that some 
isolated truth should take root and spring up in the dark by itself } 
The rank and noisome heresies and errors that have at times sprung 
up in the Church will tell the tale ! Monstrous in their forms, as rapid 
as they were unhealthy in their growth, the diseased shoots have 
brought no good flower nor fruit to perfection, but they crumble and 
perish in premature decay. Light is necessary ! That gives color, 
and tone, and brilliance, and clearness, and strength to bring forth 
flower and fruit ; and without it, all the rest were vain. And so the 
knowledge of God's will is needful for the harvest of God's saints. 
Ignorance — spiritual ignorance — can never be the mother of true de- 
votion. But the light that gladdens the soul in Christ's Church is a 
growing light — the slanting rays of spring rising into the more direct 
and burning glow of summer, and shining more and more unto the 
perfect day. 

" But if the earth need only moisture and light, why should not the 
seed sprout in mid-winter? What matters it that icicles hang from 
the eaves, and the snow covers the soil ? If that soil be only saturated 
with moisture, and the frosty air be filled with the glittering sparkle of 
a bright winter sunshine, why should not the seed ^^r^z£/, if water and 
light are all it wants ? But they are not all. The showers of grace 
may come down abundantly, but only to be frozen by the coldness of 
the stone-like earth on which they fall. The sun of knowledge may 
shine with dazzling brilliance ; but it may be only theological knowl- 
edge — only a learned head, not an understanding heart. For this, a 
thaw is necessary — something to warm as well as to enlighten. The 
light of the sun in spring is no brighter than it is in winter : and the 
truth of God is the same at all times, shining out over all the world 
with proofs that are ever of dazzling brilliance, and of such strength 
that no proud mortal can look defiance in their face, except they strike 
him blind. Yet without the warmth of Love, thawing his frozen heart, 
— they can make nothing grow there, and they will no more profit him 
in bringing to life the seed of God's Word, than the wheat can grow 
amid the frosts and snows of winter. 

" And these three influences that we have enumerated — the rain, the 
light, and the heat — are all from heaven. The sun which warms is the 
same as that which shines. And the rain falls from heaven also ; and 



248 A CJiampion of the Cross. 

although it seons not to be dependent upon the sun, yet we know that 
it is the sun's rays that draw up the vapor from the great deep, and 
form it into rain-clouds for the earth. Thus the rain also is from the 
sun, even as the light and the heat, only not so directly ; just as the 
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is sent unto us by the Power of God our 
Saviour— the same who is in His own blessed Person our Light and 
our Love. 

" Now, from what has been said, it will be seen that all these are 
necessary ; and each one so indispensable that, without it, all the rest 
were nothing. Without moisture, the light and heat would make a 
parched drought, when life would die of thirst. Without light, moisture 
and warmth would only breed unwholesome forms and loathsome 
abortions rotting in their own slime. Without warmth, moisture and 
light would be but' ice-bound winter instead of balmy spring. And 
yet, what were all these three without the soil itself to work on } Place 
your seed on a stone instead of on the ground, or on a board, or on a 
smooth rock, and let it have rain and sunshine and warmth— but will 
it grow ? I trow not ! The rain will only wet it, and the light and 
heat onlv dry it again ; but they can never make it sprout. It is /// the 
earth that it springeth and groweth up, we cannot tell how. It is the 
earth that bringeth forth fruit of herself. 

" And this brings us back to our text ; in which, you remember, the 
whole result is attributed to the earth, although, as we have seen, 
heaven does three parts for the earth, while the earth does but one 
for herself. Now, will anyone dare to say our Lord has robbed 
heaven of its rightful glor}' .-* Will anyone say that His lips have de- 
nied that rain, and light, and heat, have anything to do with the bring- 
ing forth of fruit ? Surel}'' not ! And so we, if we say that man's being 
saved depends upon his own exertions — that his being lost is all his own 
fault — if you say that his well-doing or undoing, is in either case his 
{TlVU doing : So far from robbing God of His glory, we are only saying 
what our Lord has here already said : ' The earth bringeth forth fruit 
of herself.' Without the sowing of the seed by other hands, the earth 
were nothing. Without the rain, and light, and heat, the sowing of 
the seed were nothing ; therefore all the glory of all the han'est is due 
to Heaven above ! But all these, without the earth to perform its part, 
were also nothing — therefore, the whole responsibility rests upon the 
earth. This is the heavenly arithmetic, where each part carries the 
whole burden, and yet the burden is but one and the same throughout. 
That burden is like a weight hanging by a chain of four strong links, 
where each of the four links bears the whole weight, and yet there are 
not four weights, but only one. And so here. Our Lord saith : ' The 
earth bringeth forth fruit of herself,' and King David saith : ' Then 
shall the earth bring forth her increase ' : and yet it is not the earth but 
God that giveth the increase. The work of salvation is all God's, and 
it is all ours too. It is we that work : yet not we, but Christ that 
worketh in us. The strength is God's ; yet it is ours ; for He giveth it 
unto us. We are more than conquerors : yet it is Christ that giveth us 
the victory. The glor}' is all God's, yet it is oitrs too, for we shall shine 



Appendix. 249 

as the stars forever. And why not ? For all things are ours, and 
we are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 

" So, then, there is no need of raising a nice and captious question be- 
tween what is God's work and what is man's work; and there is still 
less need of our stopping our work until that question be settled. The 
good ground that is all the while busy making its grain grow and thrive 
to the utmost of its power, does not, in so doing, despise or set at 
naught the sunshine and the rain, or rob them of their glory ; but it 
makes good use of them in the way that God hath ordained, which is 
the best glory and highest tribute it can pay them. And that lazy soil, 
which refuses to exert itself for fear it maybe robbing the powers of 
heaven of their sovereign attributes, will be found in the time of har- 
vest a bare and barren spot, or else, bristling all over with thistles and 
thorns ; and it will be given over to be burned, while the other shall be 
covered thick with golden sheaves. 

" The heavenly influences are not nieiitioried in our text — not because 
they are forgotten, not because they are of no consequence, not because 
they are <2/7- important — but only because they are the same for all. 
The sun shines as brightly and as warmly on the roadside, and on the 
stony field, and on the thorny soil, as on the good ground ; and the 
rain and the dew descend alike on all. Our Father, which is in heaven, 
maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain 
on the just and on the unjust. Therefore, if there be any differences 
in the results, it is the fault of the earth. She bringeth forth fruit of 
herself : and she must be judged by the fruit she brings forth. 'For 
the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and 
bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth 
blessing from God ; but that which beareth thorns and briers is re- 
jected, and is nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned. But, 
beloved, we are persuaded better things of you.' Ye have received 
the good seed abundantly ; your Heavenly Father hath caused His sun 
to rise upon you, and hath sent His gracious rain upon you : See then 
that ye bring forth fruits meet for the service of Him who hath so 
tenderly cared for you : that ye, also, may at length receive your bless- 
ing from the hand of God. 

(Signed) " Jno. H. Hopkins, Jr." 

"April 6, 1851 ; two o'clock a.m." 

" Preached, first, that afternoon at St. George the Martyr's, New York." 



FOR FAMILY PRAYERS. 

COLLECTS FOR THE SEVEN DAYS OF THE WEEK. 
1869. 

" Sunday. — O Light of Light, who, in the beginning of the creation 
of th& world, and in Thy Resurrection from the dead, and in Thy 
sending of the Holy Ghost, didst shine out of the darkness with great 
glory ; shine also in our souls, we beseech Thee, that, walking here as 
the children of light, we may at length attain unto Thy light eternal ; 
who livest and reignest," etc., etc. 

'" Afonday. — O God, who madest a firmament to divide the waters 
from the waters, and calledst that firmament heaven ; grant that Thy 
Church may daily extend further and further the firmament of heavenly 
truth, dividing asunder the dark clouds and stormy waves of this 
troublesome world ; through Him who is the Way, the Truth, and 
the Life, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 

" Tuesday. — O God of wisdom, who rejoicest in the habitable part 
of the earth, making the dry land to appear, and covering it with grass 
and the green herb, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind ; grant 
that we may never wander from the green pastures that grow beside 
the river of life, but may be like trees planted by the water-side, bring- 
ing forth fruit in due season unto salvation ; through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." 

" Wednesday. — O King of Glory, who madest great lights, the sun 
to rule the day, the moon and stars to govern the ni^ht ; grant that 
Thy Church, receiving all her glory from Thee, may beam forth bright 
as the sun, fair as the moon, and that they who turn many to righteous- 
ness may shine as the stars for ever and ever ; through Him who is 
our Sun of Righteousness. Jesus Christ our Lord." 

" Thursday. — O Holy Ghost, Giver of life, who didst brood upon 
the face of the barren waters, and they brought forth abundantly the 
moving creature that hath life and fowl that fly in the open firmament 
of heaven ; brood evermore upon the waters of Thy Holy Baptism, that 
innumerable souls may be born of Thee therein, and may be so blessed 
of Thee in this life that at the last day they may be caught up in the 
clouds to meet the Lord in the air; through Jesus Christ our Saviour." 

" Friday Morm'ng. — O God of Life, who filledst the earth with 
living creatures, and madest man in Thine own image, to have do- 
minion over the works of Thine hands ; grant that the glory and power 
given unto him in his innocence may be restored and increased unto 
us in the Second Adam, by the merit of whose Cross and Passion 



Appendix. 251 

Thou hast promised that Thy redeemed shall be made kings and 
priests unto Thee ; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord." 

" Friday Evening. — O loving Father, who, in the Garden of Eden, 
from the side of Adam while he was in a deep sleep, didst make woman 
to be the mother of all living ; and from the pierced side of Jesus while 
in the sleep of death upon the cross didst bring forth the water and 
the blood, and from these madest Thy Church to be His Bride ; grant 
that we, remaining faithful unto death in the bosom of that Church, 
may be folded in the everlasting arms of Thy Beloved, stretched forth 
upon the Altar of the Cross to embrace the world ; through the same 
blessed Jesus, our Lord and Saviour." 

" Saturday. — O Blessed Jesus, lover of men, who on Thine own 
hallowed day of rest didst lie sealed in the stony sepulchre, and in Thy 
victory over death and, hell madest the place of Thy rest to be glo- 
rious ; give sweet rest and refreshment to all the faithful who sleep in 
Thee ; and grant, that when our work on earth is ended, we also may 
be joined unto Thee in Paradise, and with them may have part in the 
triumphant resurrection of the just, to be separated thenceforth from 
them and from Thee, O Lord, no more forever ; who livest and 
reignest one God, world without end ; Amen." 



THE PROVINCIAL SYSTEM. 

From " Some Unwritten Books ; " Amej'ican Church Review, Januarys 

1891. 

At the Reformation, the theory of the whole movement, so far as the 
Church of England was concerned, claimed to be a return to the purity 
of the primitive Church. And at the organization of our American 
Church that return was made, in some respects, more complete than in 
England itself. But in other points the restoration is even yet lament- 
ably and undeniably incomplete. Let us consider only the case of our 
American Church. 

The early Church was ever}'where divided into provinces of conven- 
ient size, and the rule was that the synod of each province should 
meet at least twice a year, for the hearing of appeals, for the correction 
of abuses, and for consultations concerning the general welfare. Can- 
ons also might then and there be passed, if there were occasion. But 
it was unheard of that any Diocesan Bishop, with only his own clergy 
and laity, should ever undertake to pass a canon. " Constitutions " 
were unknown ever\'where. 

How does our American system compare with this ? 

At first when we had only three or four bishops, the Church in this 
country was organized — to use the proper ecclesiastical term — as one 
Province. There was not a sufficient number of bishops and dioceses 
to do anything else. This province, and our National Church, were 
identical. So in other cases — Scotland for instance — where there was 
not strength enough for two or more provinces, the province and the 
National Church were all one. In Ireland there used to be four prov- 
inces ; though there are now but two. And in England, where there 
are but two, it would be much better if there were five or six. 

But as the nation and the Church have both expanded so wonder- 
fully within our first century, it is plain that a change is required. And 
the great points are : What should this change be, and how should it 
be brought about ? 

First, comparing our American organization with that of the primi- 
tive province, what do we find ? 

Instead of meeting twice every year, our General Convention meets 
only once in three years ! 

Instead of being a Court of Appeal, we have no Court of Appeal at 
all. If a bishop is bad enough to be put on trial, he can be tried and 
punished ; but the court would have no power to rectify the tyrannical 
abuse of authority for which he may have been condemned. 



Appendix. 253 

General Convention can indeed pass canons ; but in subordination 
to them each separate diocese has its own constitution and canons, 
and in nearly all the dioceses these can be made and altered without 
the consent of the bishop himself, for which there is no precedent in the 
primitive Church anywhere in the whole world. Councils of bishops 
have made canons without the help of clergy and laity ; but that the 
clergy and laity should make canons without bishops is a monstrosity 
unknown to the primitive Church. 

Let us go back to the root of the matter. , When our risen Lord was 
about to ascend into heaven. He said to His Apostles : " All power is 
given unto Me in heaven and in earth. As the Father hath sent Me, 
even so send I you. Go ye, therefore," etc. He gave no such direct 
commission of authority to priests or deacons or laity. All that these 
last, therefore, have at any time enjoyed in the Church, they have en- 
joyed by gift of communication from the Episcopate, to whom, and to 
whom alone, the entire power was originally given. But note, that 
Christ gave the gift to the Apostles as a body — not to St. Peter or to 
any other as an individual. It is the Episcopate as a body that repre- 
sents Christ, and received " all power " from Him. Therefore none can 
make a bishop but the bishops themselves. No election, no appoint- 
ment, no letters-patent, no popular acclamations, can make a man a 
bishop. Nothing can make any man a bishop except consecration by 
those who themselves are bishops already. When the bishops con- 
cede to priests, deacons, laity, or the civil government, any share in the 
government of the Church, or the selection of its officers, that conces- 
sion is valid, for the bishops originally had " all power." Thus in the 
original appointment of deacons, the Apostles left it to others to choose 
the individuals, while reserving to themselves the power of ordination, 
If the multitude had chosen persons whom the Apostles knew to be 
unfit, doubtless they would at once have refused to ordain them. 

So long as the Apostles were together, and the Church had not yet 
spread abroad, there was no need of change. " The Apostle and el- 
ders and brethren " could be called together when any tough question 
was to be decided. But as the Church and the Episcopate extended to 
far distant countries, the case was changed. The whole body could not 
be brought together on every question. What, then, was to be done } 
Then the episcopate of each province — so soon as it became sufificiently 
numerous — was organized in a synod. The entire number of bishops 
represented the original College of the Apostles. All ordinary ques- 
tions were settled by them. There was an appeal to a larger council 
only in important controversies of the faith. 

Look at the Province of Asia — the example most fully known to us. 
When St. Paul first carried the full Gospel to the chief city, Ephesus, 
they had not yet heard of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. St. Paul 
laid the foundations, tarrying and laboring there some two years. But 
within a few years more, look at the change ! St. John is yet alive, and 
writes the Epistles to the Seven Churches of Asia. Ephesus is the 
head, for there the good work began. But there are six other Sees 
clustering around it, and all in the same province, and they evidently 



254 ^ Champion of the Cross. 

form what was soon afterward known as an ecclesiastical province. 
And so it was, little by little, in all the provinces of the old Roman 
Empire. Slowly and very sluggishly we are following the example 
here. The See of New York, which began with one bishop having ju- 
risdiction over the whole State, has grown into five dioceses (there 
ought to be more than a dozen !), and Pennsylvania has three (there 
ought to be at least seven, even now). And in Illinois we have the first 
thoroughly organized province, though with a very imperfect realiza- 
tion, as yet, of provincial powers, and with only three dioceses. But 
enough has already been done to indicate the general drift of the change 
required. 

And the first principle thus indicated is that the State is to furnish 
the boundaries of the provinces. There are only three probable excep- 
tions to this — Delaware, Rhode Island, and West Virginia. Delaware 
and Rhode Island might be permitted to attach themselves for pro- 
vincial purposes to any conterminous province ; Delaware to Pennsylva- 
nia or (better still) to Mar\-land ; and Rhode Island to either Massa- 
chusetts or Connecticut, although, in ancient days, Delaware would be 
a province by itself with at least three sees, and Rhode Island another 
province with four or more sees. But perhaps this is too much to ex- 
pect in these degenerate days. As to western Virginia, the separation* 
of that State was made during our civil war, and in utter violation of 
the spirit of the constitution, and the boundary line between that and 
the Old Dominion is the ugliest line on the whole map of the Union. 
All the other lines are either Nature's graceful lines of coast or river 
or mountain chain, while all artificial lines are the straight lines of 
peaceful development. But that ugly West Virginia line is the zigzag 
scar of the lightning-bolt of civil war, contradicting every other line in 
the whole map. It would be grateful to all Virginians who love the 
historic identity of the Old Dominion, to have both the Virginias, ac- 
cording to the old State lines, embraced in the unity of the ecclesiasti- 
cal province. In every other case, without exception, the diocese now 
embracing a State or Territory may hope to grow into a province in the 
course of time. 

The shortest and easiest way to accomplish this would be — first, to 
subdivide each State diocese into at least three sees when the time for 
subdivision has come. Two might do, as a temporary measure ; but 
it is unsatisfactory, for the bishops should always have their separate 
vote as a separate order, and with only two of them they must be unan- 
imous or nothing can be done. Another point is that at first the old 
Diocesan Convention, with clerg}'and laity from the whole State, should 
be continued over unchanged, with its old power of making and alter- 
ing constitutions and canons, only leaving to each diocese its own elec- 
tions. In this way, most easily, the power of making and altering 
constitution and canon can be restored to the provincial synod, without 
any felt loss or surrender on the part of the diocesan conventions. 
After some years, as the numbers of clerg\^ and laity become incon- 
veniently large, they can be reduced by the diocesan conventions elect- 
ing deputies in proportion to the numbers of their clerg}^ and laity, 



Appendix. 255 

rather than have all attending the provincial synod. But this change 
would leave the legislative power undisturbed where it belongs, with 
the synod of the province. 

Another point that ought to be preserved in our American provinces 
is that the presidency of the province, or, metropoHtanate, should al- 
ways belong to -the chief city and original see — to New York, in the 
province of New York ; to Philadelphia, in the province of Pennsyl- 
vania, and so on. This chief city is the chief centre of influence in 
business, in politics, in all other worldly matters; and if it be not 
made the centre of ecclesiastical influence also, there will always be 
found there a strong clique of clergy and laity whose influence will 
too often be opposed to that of the official head of the province or 
diocese. 

Still another point — somewhat new in such organizations— ought to 
be carefully guarded. Where party spirit runs high, and the metropol- 
itan is of one party, while the other bishops and dioceses may be of the 
other, it w^ould hardly be fair to give to the metropolitan the sole 
appointment of committees. The better and fairer rule will be that 
w^hen a committee is appointed of any specified number from each dio- 
cese, then each bishop should appoint the member or members from 
his own diocese, and if any bishop be absent, then the deputies from 
his diocese shall freely elect from their own number the member or 
members called for. 

Of course, eventually, the bishops of each province should be the 
court of appeals for that province. And here two points should be 
provided for. In the first place, the bishops of the province should, as 
a body, form the court of appeals, and alone give the final sentence, 
whatever it may be. And they should give it in writing, each member 
of the court assigning his reasons, so that — if they are wrong — public 
opinion may have a fair chance to be heard for the benefit of future 
cases. In the second place, there should be one clerical and one lay 
assessor elected by each diocesan convention ; besides which, each 
bishop should have the right, if he please, to name one additional cler- 
ical or lay assessor, or both, because he and his convention may not be 
in thorough harmony, and he has the right to be advised by those in 
whom he has confidence. These assessors should not be merely to 
give advice. They would probably include those of the clergy who 
were the best canonists, and laymen who were good lawyers or judges ; 
and all interlocutory questions should be decided by them. It is not 
possible to insure all bishops as good canonists, and — as our past ex- 
perience shows — a bishop may be thoroughly conscientious when act- 
ing on a court, and yet may have the most extraordinary ideas of law. 
The bishops, therefore, need to be protected against the very real 
danger of making fearful blunders in matters which they do not un- 
derstand ; and the assessors would relieve them from the decision of all 
those technical points in which they would be most likely to err. But 
when these preliminary matters were all settled, then to the bishops 
alone should be reserv^ed the final sentence of the court in the matter 
at issue. When a State province is established, and with bishops 



256 A Champion of the Cross. 

sufficiently numerous, there are certain other parts of the ancient sys- 
tem which ought to be restored. 

In the first place, when a bishop is elected to any diocese within the 
province, it should be enough to obtain the consent of the majority of 
all the bishops of the province, instead of asking that of all the bishops in 
the United States, from Florida to Alaska. The requiring- the consent 
of a majority of the standing committees should be dropped anyhow. 
There was only a temporary necessity for it at the first organization of 
our American Church, to make up for the lack of personal knowledge 
by the English bishops of those clergymen whom they were called 
upon to consecrate as bishops for these United States. The free voice 
of clergy and laity is given in the election by the diocese that makes 
the choice. The consent of the bishops of the province gives the ap- 
proval of the third and highest order. That was enough in the primi- 
tive days. It ought to be enough now. And the metropolitan of the 
province with others of his comprovincial bishops, should always per- 
form the consecration. If it be the metropolitan see that is to be 
filled, the consecration should always be by the other bishops of that 
same province ; as in the old days, when a bishop of Rome was chosen 
he was always consecrated by the Bishop of Ostia and others of the 
original Province of Rome. 

In the second place, when any diocese was to be divided and a new 
See erected, the consent of the Provincial Synod should be enough, 
without troubling General Convention. Suppose California wants to 
be divided, what can Maine be supposed to know on the subject so 
that it ought to be able to overrule California } No. Each province 
should settle all such questions for itself. Instead, then, of provinces 
being a useless, or needless appendage, we should find embodied in 
them the following important changes : 

1. A more vigorous recognition of State lines in our Church work 
than is furnished by any other religious body in the land, thus giving 
us 2i. prima facie claim to be the National Church. 

2. A provincial synod making and altering constitution (a constitu- 
tion is only a more permanent form of canon) and canons, relieving 
our diocesan conventions of all responsibility in that matter. And 
eventually it would relieve General Convention of a large part of the 
legislation — our triennial National Council confining itself mainly to 
questions of Bible and Prayer-book, and inter-communion, and the 
restoration of the visible unity of Christendom, leaving all points of 
ordinary practical administration to the provincial synods. 

3. The working of a simple and practical Court of Appeals, before 
which any and every disputed question might be brought, and settled 
on the spot. 

4. The furnishing of the ancient primary court for the trial of any 
bishop, with no appeal beyond its decisions except in cases involving 
doctrine. 

5. The simplifying the process of the consecration of bishops in case 
of vacancy. 

6. A similar facility in the erection of new dioceses. 



Appendix. 257 

7. One great recommendation of the plan here proposed is that 
necessarily it must be very gradual in the process of realization. Some 
parts of our Church (very few) are ready for it now if they only knew it. 
Others will not be ready for fifty years to come. The full measure of 
the powers here suggested as proper for provincial synods cannot be 
conveyed at present. Some of them it may be wiser to withhold until 
a province shall contain at least (say) seven dioceses. But as one 
province took its place in line after another — not all at 07ice — there 
would be a much better chance of improvement in a line of advance as 
yet untried. Mistakes made in one place would be corrected in an- 
other ; and thus the system would become more vigorous and com- 
plete with its gradual adoption. 

But one point I would insist on with the utmost obstinacy. The 
idea of making the meetings of our General Convention not so frequent 
as once in three years, should be talked down, voted down, knocked 
on the head, whenever it appears. What ! We could meet once in 
three years just after the Revolutionary War, when there were no 
steamboats and no railroads, and now, with all the marvellous facili- 
ties of modern travel, we are to meet only once in ten, fifteen, or 
twenty years ! The very idea is absurd and intolerable ! Why, the 
Lambeth Conference of bishops from all over the world meets once in 
every ten years ! With our provisions against changes in constitution 
or prayer-book except when passing in identical verbal form through 
two consecutive General Conventions, we should crystallize ourselves 
into future immobility, just when the prospect of the reunion of Chris- 
tendom demands of us a greater flexibility than ever ! And we began 
the movement too ! And what a wickedly absurd position we should 
be in, if, after inviting a divided Christendom to meet us on the four 
points, we should adopt a legislative system which should tie ourselves 
up more closely hand and foot than ever we were tied before ! No, 
no ! Even if General Convention reserves to itself only the matters 
concerning reunion, it will have more than enough to do every three 
years, and the more the better ! 

17 



THE LAY ELEMENT IN ENGLAND AND IN AMERICA. 
(From the Contemporary Review, March, 1881.) 

For more than thirty years I have been a close and steady reader of 
the leading English Church papers, and most deeply interested in every 
step of the marvellous Church revival which has been gaining ground 
year by year during all that time, and is stronger now than ever. The 
same movement has been making progress on our side of the water, 
under very different conditions. One peculiar point of observation and 
thought has been to watch how the life within, on either side of the 
water, would modify its environment, so as to enable the new spirit to 
do its full work. For years I have been convinced that the key to the 
position on your side — the Malakoff whose capture will ensure the sur- 
render of the enemy — is simply to give to the laity in England as nearly 
as possible the same position which they now enjoy in the Church of 
America. There has been a steady approximation toward this, be- 
yond question ; but its stiffest opponents are precisely those brave men 
of the advanced school who ought to be its friends, and who have the 
most to gain from its adoption, because they have the best right. 

Nothing would be further from the truth than to suppose that this 
conviction is a mere piece of our too common American conceit and 
"bumptiousness." I think I see as many faults, and am as ready to 
try to correct them, in our American Church as in any other. Nay, it 
must be frankly confessed that we have no right to pride ourselves on 
our originality or ingenuity in this matter of the laity. We American 
churchmen have been guilty of every stupidity and every particle of 
obstructiveness that was in our power. Wherever it was possible to 
copy an English blunder we have been sure to do it. Some of our best 
changes were accomplished, humanly speaking, by accident. Our 
most real improvements were things into which a kind Providence 
drove us, so that we had no choice left. Yet, after nearly a century of 
experience of the advantages of our providential position, as proved by 
a steady gain over even our rapid rate of increase in the population, as 
also by a still more rapid gain in the tone and strength of churchman- 
ship, we have American stupids (bishops included) who, while abroad 
among you, talk of the " superior advantages [Heaven save the mark !J 
of a union of Church and State ; " and some of our dignitaries bring 
back with them strings and rosettes in their hats, and braided coats, 
aprons, and leggings, and even call one another "My Lord" on the 
sly, in a semi-jocular manner, when no dangerous ears are within 
reach. We have a natural genius for making Church blunders over 



Appendix. 259 

here, and we have not done with it yet. The position taken in regard 
to the laity, therefore, is perfectly free from any national vanity. 

To begin at the beginning. The precise position of the laity, as an 
organic element in the structure of the Primitive Church, is by no 
means self-evident. As the entire deposit trm of spiritual knowledge 
and power was given to the Apostolic College, it must have been the 
work of time to settle what particular portions of it should be perma- 
nently distributed to priests, deacons, and laity. That some such con- 
veyance was contemplated from the first is evident from the fact that 
the new Apostle, in the place of Judas, was not appointed by Saint 
Peter (the papal theory), nor by the eleven alone (as some suppose the 
episcopal theory to be), nor by the eleven and the seventy alone (as 
some would make the clerical theory to be). The whole " one hundred 
and twenty " of the " disciples " took part in the election, so that there 
must have been some of the laity voting for the first bishop of the 
apostolic succession, as well as the eleven and the seventy ; there imist 
have been at least thirty-7iine of these laity, for eleven and seventy (if 
the seventy were all present) make only eighty-one of the one hundred 
and twenty. When the order of deacons was created, the " multitude 
of the disciples " were the electoral body again, though the appointing 
or ordaining power was reserved by the apostles. In the choice of 
Church officers, therefore, from bishop or Apostle, which is the highest, 
to deacon, which is the lowest, the laity should have a free voice. At 
the Council of Jerusalem we find that " all the multitude " were again 
present, and toward the close they " kept silence," a very significant 
hint that they had been doing their part of the "much disputing" 
which preceded. This is a strong indication that the ordinary reading : 
" The Apostles, and elders, and brethren," means just what we describe 
as " The bishops, clergy, and laity." 

But in the earlier ages, the bishops and clergy being the primary 
teachers of the new Gospel, would naturally possess so strong a direct- 
ing power, that the distinct share of the laity in legislation would hardly 
appear. Indeed, if we look to the power of giving a distinctive vote, as 
an order, we find it pretty much confined to the episcopate. A very 
rigid adherence to the model of the earlier Councils might be found to 
shut out the priesthood as well as the people, and leave all legislative 
power to the bishops alone. 

As the fresh leadership of early teaching settled down, however, into 
the well-defined tradition of the second or third generation, the stabil- 
ity of the pyramid was increased by the enlargement of its base. The 
organic share of priests and people became more highly and firmly 
crystallized. In the election of bishops it was sometimes manifested 
with such force as to show the need of further regulation. When one 
hundred and thirty-seven corpses were carried out of one church after 
the election of Damasus as Bishop of Rome, it would hardly do to 
say that the laity had no share in the election of bishops. In the 
worst of our partisan contested elections, we have never, in America, 
come anywhere near the liveliness of the Roman laity in the fourth 
century. 



26o A Champion of the Cross. 

But with the conversion of Constantine a new element had come 
into play. Slowly in some points, more rapidly in others, the Govern- 
ment absorbed the previous right of the laity, and added other and fur- 
ther usurpations also. This new power was at first exerted as simply 
" Government tJifliicncer The forms were left untouched : the spirit 
only was changed. The imperial influence in favor of one candidate 
was generally sufficient to secure his election. After a time this hard- 
ened into a right to nominate, and then at last into a right to appoint 
and install. So also with regard to Councils. Here, where the posi- 
tion of the laity had been left more indefinite from the first, appropria- 
tion by the State, through its powerful infiicence, was more rapid and 
more complete than in regard to election. All the undisputed General 
Councils were not only called by the Emperor, but their decisions or 
decrees received also their xOpos — their validity as law — from ///;//. He 
was the " lay power " entire. 

We must now draw a clear distinction between things which have 
been more or less confused and confounded ever since the union of 
Church and State began. Everything touching the possession and 
control of property belongs of right to the civil authority. Our Lord 
Himself, when on the earth, though He was King of kings and Lord of 
lords, would not meddle with a case of secular property, even when a 
man had cheated his own brother out of part of his inheritance. " Man, 
who made Me a judge or a divider over you ? " was His unanswerable 
question to one who would engage Him to decide a question of prop- 
erty. Even while the emperors of Rome were Pagans, the Church — 
as in the case of Paul of Samosata — went into the secular courts for 
the settlement of the right of property, even church property. Now, 
for everything concerning the tenure and management of property, the 
Church is dependent upon the State, necessarily, here in America as 
well as elsewhere. We have no difficulty in getting the State to do for 
us anything we really need, in this line. In this State of Pennsylvania, 
for instance, any number of persons may associate themselves together 
for any religious purpose ; and, having submitted their articles of asso- 
ciation to the inspection of the judges of a certain court, and due pub- 
licity being secured, when the judge certifies that there is nothing 
therein " contrary to the Constitution and Laws of the United States 
or of the Commonwealth of Penns3^lvania," the applicants are forth- 
with recognized and recorded as a corporation at law." 

This is essentially distinct from the possession or exercise of any 
power touching questions of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or the 
election or appointment to office in the Church. But the union of 
Church and State has so far confused the two that it is not easy to 
unravel them. And the confusion seems to be inextricable as soon as 
an Englishman reaches the magic phrase " the Royal Supremacy." 

Now, it may startle your readers immensely, but I venture to say 
that the Royal Supremacy, in its true meaning and intent, exists here, 
in America, as completely as it does in England. The object of the 
Statute of Henry Vin. was to put a stop to appeals to Rome in all 
cases occurring in the ecclesiastical courts in England, those courts 



Appendix. 261 

having then jurisdiction in " all testamentary and matrimonial causes, 
and all suits for tithes,^ oblations, and obventions ; " and all these cases 
were thereafter to be settled within the realm. As to America, ques- 
tions of " tithes, oblations, and obventions " do not occur. " All testa- 
mentary and matrimonial causes," so far as civil rights are concerned, 
are settled by the civil courts, and no Romanist dreams of appeaUng 
from them to Rome, any more than do the Quakers. 

But we go further than this. The priJiciple of the Act of Henry 
VIII. separates clearly between the civil and ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 
maintaining that, in both, England was sufficient unto herself, without 
becoming dependent on Rome. The statute says of England, that 
*' the body spiritual " thereof has power " when any cause of the law 
divine happened to come in question, or of spiritual learning," such 
cause being " declared, interpreted, and showed by that part of the 
body politic called the spiritualty, now usually called the English 
Church (which also hath been reported and also found of that sort, 
that both for knowledge, integrity, and sufficiency of numbers, it hath 
been always thought to be, and is also at this hour, sufficient and meet 
of itself, without the interfering of any exterior person or persons, to 
declare and determine all such doubts, and to administer all such offices 
and duties as to the administration of their rooms spiritual doth apper- 
tain): and the laws temporal, for trial of property, of lands and goods, 
and for the conservation of the people of this realm in unity and peace, 
having been and yet being administered, adjudged, and executed by 
sundry judges and administers of the said body politic called the tem- 
poralty ; and seeing that both these authorities and jurisdictions do 
conjoin together for the due administration of justice, the one to help 
the other ; " etc. Nothing can be more absurd than to argue, that the 
true meaning of all this is, that secular courts are to judge spiritual 
cases, or that spiritual courts are to decide secular cases, or that the 
king, as an autocrat, could overrule either the one or the other. It 
merely recognizes a fundamental and indelible distinction between civil 
and ecclesiastical cases, and that each of the two kinds of court is to 
exercise its own powers, without interference from the other within the 
realm, or from any power whatsoever outside. The same fundamental 
distinction between the spiritual and the temporal is re-asserted in 
more than one message sent by Queen Elizabeth to her meddlesome 
Parliament ; and stands permanently embodied in the Royal Declara- 
tion prefixed to the Thirty-nine Articles. And the reiterated quotation 
of all these passages, in all sorts of books, reviews, magazines, news- 
papers, and other publications, would, so one would suppose, have 
made the principle itself familiar enough to most Englishmen by this 
time. 

^owth.\?,ftmda7ne?ttaldisti7tction between things and causes prop- 
erly civil, and things and causes properly spiritual, is American law as 
well as English law. 

Our Civil Courts, where a question of property depends upon the 
issue, will examine and decide any Church question — so far as that 
piece of property is concerned. But the decision concerns the Church 



262 A Champion of the Cross. 

no farther than that particular amount of dollars and cents, and does 
not bind the Church in any spiritual point of view. When an Illinois 
secular court, after years of incubation, decided that Mr. Cheney was 
entitled to the possession of his church edifice, because he was yet " a 
Presbyter of the Protestant Episcopal Church in good and regular 
standing," although at the time of rendering this decision Cheney had 
not only been for some years deposed from the ministry, but had 
actually been " consecrated " by Bishop Cummins as a " Bishop " of 
the new "Reformed Episcopal" sect, what was the consequence? 
Cheney merely retained possession of a building which was heavily 
mortgaged, and not very desirable in any point of view ; and all 
the world (Cheneyites included) laughed at the absurdity of the de- 
cision. 

The very Romanists themselves, in Great Britain, recognize the 
Royal Supremacy without murmuring. When a Saurin case arises in 
England, or an O'Keefe case in Ireland, of the very sort that, before 
the Reformation, would have been evoked to Rome, what do your 
Romish ecclesiastics do about it.-^ Do they evoke it to Rome .^ No 
more than if they were so many Protestants. Cardinals, bishops, and 
priests, monks and nuns, obey the siibpcenas and other processes of 
the civil courts, and accept their decisions, whether they like them or 
not, as quietly as if there was no such city as Rome, and no such per- 
son there as the Pope. 

And it seems to be an entire mistake to suppose that the power now 
exercised by the Crown in regard to the conge d'ehre, and convoca- 
tion, and various other matters, has anything to do with the Royal 
Supremacy. The Royal Supremacy is an incident of the Crown, 7ieces- 
sarily co-extensi-ve with its jin'isdiction. Will anyone say that the 
Royal Supremacy has been abolished in the Dominion of Canada, or 
in any other of the constitutional colonies } Is it abolished in Ireland, 
or in Scotland ? Nay, is it abolished in England itself in regard to all 
persons except those who belong to the Established Church } The 
very asking of the question is enough. It is abohshed nowhere. It 
would be just as correct to say that none but members of the Estab- 
lished Church are " subjects " of the British Crown. 

This is clear enough as to the Civil Courts. As to the Spiritual 
Courts it is not so clear. But the positive and direct declaration of the 
Statute of Henry VIII. is, that spiritual questions shall be decided by 
Spiritual Courts only, without appeal to any power outside the realm. 
When the State, in process of time, recognized the existence of two or 
more religious organizations, with legal rights, within the realm, the 
principle of the Act was not thereby destroyed, but only rendered 
more active. The organs for the settlement of spiritual questions 
merely became more numerous, so as to decide those questions accord- 
ing to the communion in which they may arise. If it be a spiritual 
question among Presbyterians, the Presbyterian Spiritual Courts will 
settle it. If among the Baptists, then the Baptist Court. If among 
the Methodists, then the Methodist Court. If among the Romanists, 
then a Romanist Court ; each and every of them managing their own 



Appendix. 263 

Courts to suit themselves. In any case, if property interests be in- 
volved, the Civil Court may review the decision so far as civil rights 
may be involved ; but its sentence will bind no further than that. 

All the particulars, therefore, in which the Crown now has more or 
other powers touching the Established Church than touching any 
other religious body in the empire, are simply outside the true mean- 
ing and intent of " the Royal Supremacy^' and may be entirely altered 
and removed by law, without touching the Royal Supremacy in any 
degree. 

In all these other matters, however, the Crown now absorbs and 
uses powers that originally and properly belonged to the laity as an 
order within the Church itself, and which oicght to belong to the laity 
now, if only the laity were so organized for that purpose as to be able 
to use them. 

With us, they are so organized. And let us compare the general 
features of the two systems. No man has an ex officio place as a lay 
deputy or officer of any sort in the Church of America. He must be 
elected. And the only ostensible ground on which he ca7i be elected, 
is because he is a Churchman, and is sufficiently interested in the 
Church to serve without pay. Your laity, in the only organization you 
have (your Parliament), even in its best days, when admitting only 
Church communicants, was composed of men chosen for secular ob- 
jects ; by methods of secular agitation, whose parties rose and fell on 
secular questions ; and to which spiritual questions or interests could 
scarcely at any time be more than incidental. This contrast, alone, 
ought to be enough to settle the whole question. But when, besides 
this, your only legal organization of the laity of the English Church 
first ceased to be communicants, then admitted a nation of Presby- 
terians, then another nation chiefly of Romanists, then Jews, and now 
Atheists, and yet still clings to the spiritual power of the lay order in 
the Church of England herself, while keeping the order of the clergy all 
the while tied up in a double-bow knot, how can reasonable men sup- 
pose that to be a plan preferable to ours ? 

Let us now compare a few details. And in so doing, the secular lay 
power^the government for the day — will be contrasted with the 
Church laity among us. 

As to legislation : Without a WTit from the secular lay power your 
Convocation cannot come together at all. Our Church laity have no 
such control over us. Our Conventions all meet at fixed constitutional 
times, as a matter of course. Special meetings are called by the bishop, 
or by standing committees, which generally consist of both clergy and 
laity. 

When your Convocation has come together, you cannot even discuss 
any matter of legislation without a Letter of Business from your secular 
lay power. OurChurch laity have no such gag in our mouths. When 
we are assembled in Convention, any member may introduce any 
matter of proposed legislation he pleases, and the House can discuss it 
as long as they like, and come to what conclusion seems good to them. 

When your Convocation has come to a conclusion, it is of no force 



264 A Champioji of the Cross. 

unless your secular lay power sees fit to approve it. Here there is 
some nearer comparison ; for with us a vote by orders may at any time 
be called for (and on some subjects the vote must be taken that way), 
and without the consent of a majority of the lay order present nothing 
is done. But practically there is a vast difference between this and your 
way of doing (or rather 7iot doing) things. For, first, our laity are Church 
laity, chosen and coming there because of their interest as Churchmen, 
and they are therefore eminently fit to be trusted. They are also 
present during the whole discussion, they are compelled to hear what 
the clergy" have to say, and to answer it face to face if they can ; and 
they are protected from the pressure of secular interests, or secular en- 
tanglements, in coming to their spiritual conclusion. In all Church 
matters they are thus being continicatty educated by their membership 
in such a body. They there learn things concerning the working sys- 
tem of the Church which they might never learn in books, and which 
they would never hear in sermons or in private conversations. And 
nothing is more interesting than to watch some clear-headed layman, 
from General Convention to General Convention, growing continually 
instrength of judgment, clearness of insight, and boldness of advocacy, 
until he is numbered among those on whom the clergy^ rely as their 
constant and conscientious helpers in every Church contest, and towers 
of strength for the maintenance of every Church principle. On the 
contrar}% your secular lay power is inaccessible to Church teaching or 
Church argument ; the clergy^ cannot make it listen, has no control 
over its adjournment or consideration, and is therefore completely at 
the mercy of its ignorance, its caprice, or its secular interests. 

Whenever your discussions are at all displeasing to your secular lay 
power, it can prorogue your Convocation on the spot, and send you all 
home, willy-nilly ; or your Archbishop — generally the mouthpiece of 
the secular lay power rather than of the Church — can do it of his own 
motion. There is no such sword suspended by a thread over the head 
of any of our Conventions. Assembling at the stated constitutional 
time, so long as a quorum is present, nothing can prorogue or adjourn 
the session, except the free vote of the body itself. In the case of the 
General Convention it requires a joint vote by both Houses. Neither 
can terminate the session by its own sole act. 

But some among you lift up your hands in holy horror at the idea 
that we give to our laity an equal vote with the bishops and clergy 
in all questions of doctrine. So we do. But let us look a little more 
closely, and not jump too suddenly to a conclusion. 

Nobody among us pretends that the Lord gave His commission to 
teach to any but the bishops and clergy — to the bishops alone abso- 
lutely : to the other clergy only derivatively, but yet substantially and 
authoritatively. That commission was not given to the laity. Wher- 
ever the bishops and clergy went, in primitive times, they preached 
and taught, and the laity received the faith from them with meekness 
and docility. But how is it now.^ Have the clergy received the 
revelation of any neio doctrine, heretofore unheard of by the laity, and 
which the laity would, therefore, be likely to reject ? Certainly not. 



Appendix, 265 

Among Romanists or Dissenters there may be room for new doctrines, 
or new denials of old doctrines, but not among us. The only question 
of doctrine that can arise, is as to the clearer statement of some things 
which have fallen partly out of sight in the popular apprehension. 
And as to these, why should we fear the laity } What are they, any- 
how doctrinally, to the clergy but as the armature of soft iron to the 
magnet.^ Who has taught them what they now hold, except the 
bishops and clergy } If that teaching has been faithfully given, why 
can we not trust the laity to echo it correctly ? If that teaching has 
not been faithfully given, let the bishops and clergy correct themselves 
first, and then, within a generation or less, they will find the laity ready 
to go with them. It would be most unwise to legislate afresh on doc- 
trine, until the picked meji of the laity — those chosen for their intelligent 
interest in Church matters, and those alone — are sufficiently educated 
by the bishops and clergy to see the propriety of it. To legislate in 
advance of this degree of co-operation would be to ensure schism. 

We say thus much as to new legislation on doctrine. But there is 
no great cause for alarm in this direction. What we are all most con- 
cerned about is, to see that we lose no part of the doctrinal treasures 
which we still retain. Now, on our American plan, no doctrinal change 
can be made without the identical action of two consecutive General 
Conventions, each voting by its three orders ; and the want of concur- 
rence on the part of any ofie order (even by a tie votej, at either of 
those two General Conventions, is enough to defeat the change. That 
is to say, suppose the whole three orders were unanimous in favor of 
the change in 1 880, and in 1 883 the clergy and the laity were equally 
unanimous for it, while the House of Bishops should be equally divided, 
it would /rt//. If the order of bishops can be trusted, neither clergy nor 
laity can do any harm. If the order of clergy can be trusted, then 
neither the bishops nor the laity, though unanimous, can do any harm. 
And there may be cases when the simple slowness of the laity may 
save the Church from weakness or rashness on the part of both bishops 
and clergy. All readers of Church history will remember those terrible 
Arian times when " the ears of the people were more orthodox than the 
tongues of the priests." 

There is another consideration which I commend most earnestly to 
the notice of thoughtful men. The laity, with us, have their say on 
the election of every bishop, and on the candidacy and ordination of 
every priest and deacon, and on the parochial call of every rector of a 
parish. But it is also true that the clergy have their measure of influ- 
ence on every part of the operations of the lay order, on the selection 
of vestrymen in their parish, on the appointment of lay delegates to 
their Diocesan Convention, and on the choice of lay deputies to Gen- 
eral Convention. . These last are usually chosen by concurrent vote. 
No man can go as lay-deputy unless a majority of the clergy vote for 
him, as well as a majority of the laity. Neither can anyone be chosen 
a clerical deputy unless he receive a majority of the lay votes, as well 
as a majority of the clerical votes. This looks perfectly equal, and in 
theory is so, so that no layman can take any exception to it. But in 



266 A Champion of the Cross. 

practice, except on very rare and extraordinary occasions, the clerical 
vote is the real determining power, and the lay vote, sooner or later, 
coincides. If a clergyman is a person of any real weight of character, 
his vestry is very soon just what he chooses to make it — the lay depu- 
ties to Convention are those whom he wishes to be sent ; and, when 
there, they vote as he does. Nor is this any unfair interference with 
their right. They have a right to act with their clerg^^man if they like ; 
especially when they have called him themselves, and love him, and 
take pleasure in agreeing with him and helping him and his influence 
in every way. Thus, too, in all our Church Conventions, the clergy- 
take part as in their life-work, which they thoroughly understand, and 
in which they have the effectiveness of soldiers of the regular army. 
The laity, however, take their part generally with far less of ready con- 
fidence and effectiveness. In other words, they are rather like the 
militia. And unless some singular want of judgment, or some un- 
usually mischievous element makes itself felt, the preponderance of the 
clergy in all that is said and done is natural and continued. Sooner 
or later, on our plan, the laity must, and will, take the tone which 
bishops and clergy give them. 

Whenever there is a temporar}^ discrepancy between the two orders, 
it is almost invariably due to one of three causes : ist. It may be 
owing to temporary panic, seizing upon the comparative ignorance of 
the laity, and exciting them to resistance before there is an opportunity 
to enlighten them as to the true facts of the case. All that is neces- 
sary is to keep cool, have patience, let the tempest in a teapot die 
away, and then the whole may be easily explained, and the laity will 
accept the explanation. 2d. It may be due to ignorance merely, with- 
out the panic, in which case it is even more manageable than in the 
other. An absence of the worry and hurry, and a little time and pa- 
tience, are all that is required. 3d. There may be something in the 
constitutional organization which has a 7iatiiral tendency to make the 
laity feel that they are unfairly used ; and if this be so, it is sometimes 
very easy to get up a very mischievous excitement. 

For instance : There are two modes of electing diocesan bishops 
among us. The Pennsylvania and Virginia method gives to the order 
of the clerg>' the right to nominate a man to the laity, and the latter 
can only say yes or 110 to the nominee of the clergy. This is giving, 
apparently, a very important prerogative to the clergy; and, very 
curiously, it prevails mainly in dioceses which were Low Church at the 
time when they adopted it. The other is the New York plan, by which 
both orders ballot simultaneously on a perfect constitutional equality, 
and there is no election until some one candidate has a majority of both 
orders at the same ballot. This is the High Church plan, and is far 
preferable for the reality of clerical influence. The other plan is like 
the silly dog in the fable, who lost the meat in order to grasp at the 
shadow. And this will be clearly seen on a little closer examination. 
If both clergy and laity really have their minds set upon one and the 
same individual, either mode would work the same result. But sup- 
pose the clergy desire a man who at first sight is not so acceptable to 



Appendix. 267 

the laity — how then ? The feeling that this is so would be very per- 
ceptible before the Convention came together. Some among the lay 
opponents would be sure to say that " the laity don't come here merely 
to register the edicts of the clergy." The laity may, by a strong ma- 
jority, prefer some other name than the one sent down by the clergy. 
But they have no way by which they can manifest that preference, except 
by defeating every name sent down by the clergy, until the clergy shall 
send down the name desired. What chance is there then for the first 
choice of the clergy } Simply 7ione at all. The first time it is sent 
down it is negatived. What shall the clergy do ? Send down the 
same name a second time } What is likely to be the effect of that ? 
It is an implied rebuke to the laity — an implied suggestion that their 
first action was hasty, or from want of due consideration, or was prej- 
udiced or unjust. Is this likely to put the laity in a better humor } 
They are more likely to say no the second time than the first ; and it 
will get worse every time until the laity become perfectly unmanage- 
able. The first choice of the clergy (perhaps their second or third 
choice as well) will be defeated, and the election will probably fall upon 
one whom nobody desired and nobody even thought of before the con- 
test began. But on the other plan, the clergy having apparently no 
organic advantage over the laity, the two orders come together without 
that artificial predisposition for a disagreement. Each order votes for 
the man it prefers, and can show its preference, and continue to show 
it, ballot after ballot, as long as it pleases, without any offence being 
implied to the other order. If the clergy are divided into cliques, the 
laity will probably carry in their man. But if the clergy understand 
one another (a majority of them) and stand shoulder to shoulder, the 
laity will soon feel satisfied with the open compliment they have paid 
to their candidate, and will, vote by vote, come round to the clergy's 
candidate, until at length he is elected. 

The same general principle applies to any constittitional meqnalzfy 
between the two orders, which is not absolutely required by essential 
principle. To give the laity a separate vote on doctrine cannot possibly 
do any harm. But it may do great good, by promoting that solidarity 
of feeling and interest which is of inestimable value. 

While on the subject of elections, I cannot resist the temptation to 
make two practical suggestions, though they are aside from the main 
subject before us. The first is, that the sooner an election is held the 
better. " The King is dead : Long live the King ! " is the best model. 
Ten days were not suffered to elapse after the Ascension before St. 
Matthias was in the place vacated by Judas Iscariot. And when the 
subject was brought up, the Apostles did not leave it open for several 
days to give an opportunity for electioneering and canvassing and 
slandering, but they went into the choice at once. In all elections of 
bishops, the primary instinctive action is best — based, as it must then 
be, on Xho. already publicly known ?X2.n^xi\g of men for ability and char- 
acter. The most common use made of days or weeks intervening, is to 
give the second- and third-rate men a chance to blackball the first-rate 
men, who otherwise would be the spontaneous choice. So strong is my 



268 A CJiampion of the Cross. 

feeling about this, that, if it were in my power, the law should be that 
the clergy and laity should attend the funeral of the dead bishop in the 
morning, and, on returning from the grave, go a^ once into the election 
of his successor, without stopping for either meat or drink ; and that 
any number of the clerg}- and laity thus continuing in session without 
any adjournment or recess for any purpose whatsoever until an election 
was made, should be a sufficient quorum for ,^ valid choice. The 
second suggestion is, that nothing fjioi'c than a simple majority of both 
orders present should be required in order to elect. To require, for 
instance, a majority of tu>o-t/iirds merely means that a little clique of 
about ojic-sixth of the body shall have power to defeat the majority ; 
the consequence is, the defeat of the strong man and the election of 
some one who is weak enough to have no enemies. It is our favor- 
ite American way of killing off (politically speaking) the natural leaders 
of parties, and promoting men in their places who can be more easily 
used. Both these suggestions would tend greatly toward luinimizing 
the evils naturally incident to a popular election. In decisions about 
doctrine, ino7-al unanimity should be required. In the election of in- 
dividuals to office, a simple majo7'ity is the wisest and most efficient 
rule. 

To pass now to another matter, though one of great importance — 
the forming of corporations for the holding and managing of Church 
property. They are with us almost invariably composed largely, if not 
of a majority, of laymen. Sometimes, as in Pennsylvania, the State 
law requires this. The consequence of such an arrangement would 
naturally be to put an end to all projects of spoliation. " Hawks will 
not pike out hawks' een." The idea of plundering the clergy is very 
attractive to some minds ; but the plundering of corporations of lay- 
men is a very different matter. It is then always remembered that 
"the rights of property are sacred." The management of Church 
business might, in some respects, be thus rendered more clumsy and 
tedious, sometimes even sluggish ; but, in the long run, the property 
would be safer. Look at the fate of Church property held solely in 
clerical hands all over the continent of Europe, and in other countries 
also. Clerical management secures rapid acquisition, and often to vast 
amounts, but is invariably followed, after a certain lapse of time, by 
wholesale confiscation. And this is not the effect of doctrinal differ- 
ences ; but it is the laity as an order taking to themselves that control 
of property of which the clergy, by superior finesse, had for too long a 
time deprived them. This lesson is taught us as clearly by Spain and 
Italy in the nineteenth century as by France in the eighteenth, or by 
England and Scotland in the sixteenth. And if the laity thus act, or- 
ganized as the civil government of the day, it must be remembered 
that this is the 07ily organization of the laity which the Church, for 
ages previous, had encouraged or known anything about. 

We have, indeed, a protection which is unknown among you. We 
have a written Constitution, and a Supreme Court of the United 
States. Our Church property has been declared to be, in so far that 
of private corporations (as distinguished from public corporations), 



Appendix. 269 

that no State Legislature can, by any act of confiscation, take it away 
from us. And if any such Act should at any time be passed, the Su- 
preme Court would declare it to be " null and void," because " uncon- 
stitutional." The very possibility, therefore, of such a thing as disen- 
dowment — that is, wholesale robbery by act of the Civil Government — 
is inconceivable in our American system. The existence of this dan- 
ger among you only makes more necessary that orgastic solidarity of 
interests between clergy and laity which would speedily take all dreams 
of disendowment out of the range of " practical politics." 

And now let us look at the tough subject of patronage, beginning 
with the lower sphere of the parish clergy, and afterward proceeding 
to bishops. 

No part of our American system has called forth more constant 
complaints from among ourselves, or more severe criticism from else- 
where, than the giving to our parochial vestries the power of calling a 
rector, and too often, the practical power of starving him out or of 
driving him off when he has worn out his welcome. " The hideous 
vestry system," and the terrible disease of " vestryitis," have echoed 
and re-echoed through our newspapers, and in episcopal addresses 
and platform speeches, until one would think it was the worst plan of 
solving the patronage problem that ever was invented. Yet, instead 
of being the worst, it is actually the best known at the present day in 
any branch of the apostolic Church. At any rate, it is incomparably 
better than yours in England. 

Our system, indeed, is yet in its infancy, and has many evils to con- 
tend with, which are properly its own. In the first place, the English 
churchmen who come over as immigrants to this country, too often 
bring with them the idea that beyond baptisms, marriages, and funer- 
als, they do not need to trouble the Church at all ; or that, as there is 
no Church established here by law, there is none which it is at all their 
duty to attend. If they do attend, they are so accustomed to a clergy 
supported by existing endowments, that they cannot be made to feel 
that there is any need for them to contribute toward current expenses. 
Any farther interest they may show is probably in the way of fault 
finding or bullying, because things are not exactly as they were in the 
parish they came from " at home." So the English element — where any 
such element is to be found — is not much of a help. And too often a 
large part of the American element is but lately drawn in from the 
much more numerous and powerful sects around us ; and persons 
attracted to the Church only in their maturer years, are too apt to bring 
with them the mental habits which were those of their previous lives. 
Their sectarian idea always was, that the pews were the source of 
power ; and that it is the first duty of the pulpit to please and fill the 
pews ; and that, if the preacher don't do that, he ought to quit. Hardly 
anywhere are there any "endowments" of any sort, for the current 
expenses of clergy and parish. These must, somehow or other, be 
paid by the congregation, or by some missionary organization ; or the 
clergyman must starve, or live by his own private means, or leave. 
Now, the problem is, to compel people to support a clergyman by their 



2/0 A Champion of the Cross. 

vohmtary offerings, when they do not choose to do it. It is possible, 
indeed, to put a legal remedy in the hands of a clergyman, but when 
he has come to the point of suing his people and levying on their prop- 
erty to get his salary, what good is his subsequent preaching of the 
Gospel likely to do, either to himself or to them ? With ancient en- 
dowments, the income of which would support him, independently of 
the good-will of the parish, the case would be different. In parishes 
among us that have sufficient endowments, the tenure of the rectorship 
is as steady and as sure as in England. These are, indeed, as yet, very 
few, and for the most part they are not desirable. Suppose that a 
clergyman — no matter for what cause — has lost his acceptableness, so 
that a large part of his people will no longer attend his ministrations, 
and that the longer he stays the worse it gets. What is the result on 
you7' principle ? The clerg}'man gets his living all the same, with less 
and less work to do. The people neglect religion altogether ; or, after 
a few years, seeing no hope of any speedy change in the Church, they 
begin to go to the Wesleyan chapel or the Independent meeting, and 
after ten, fifteen, twenty, or thirty years of such a " permanent rector- 
ship," the bulk of the population are permanently alienated from the 
Church. On our plan, the rector would have been starved out or driven 
away (I purposely use the strongest words) in a year or two at the fur- 
thest, and the coming of a new man would have given a chance, at 
least, of better satisfaction and growth for the future. It is not often, 
on our plan, that dissenting congregations are built up out of the ruins 
of our parishes. The clerg\s indeed, sometimes have a hard time of 
it ; but the clerg}^ exist for the sake of the people, not the people for 
the sake of giving a support to the clerg}^ ; and whenever the prefer- 
ence 7?nist be given, the interest of the flock should prevail, and the 
clerg}', like their Master, be content to suffer in the service — and move 
on. So far as my experience goes, when there is dissatisfaction in a 
parish, it is quite as likely to be the parson's fault as that of the people. 
The being in Holy Orders is no sufficient excuse for any man to dis- 
pense with prudence, tact, knowledge of mankind, acceptable manners, 
or any other good gift. And a clerg)'man is at least as much bound 
to show due consideration for the feelings and convictions of his people 
as they are for his. A neglect of these considerations wzll work ac- 
cording to the laws of human nature, as surely as a priest's hand, if he 
thrust it into the tire, will get burned. It is not best for the clergy 
theinselves that their income should be entirely independent of their 
devotion to duty. We are all human. And that we should find, when 
we do our duty diligently, a little more encouragement than when we 
neglect it altogether, will do none of us any great harm. Of course this 
is written, not for exceptional cases, but for the general run. 

Now, as it is clear that our plan, on the whole, works less harm than 
yours, where the priest is personally unsatisfactory, let us next look at 
the other side. Suppose a priest builds up his parish to an extra- 
ordinary degree of health and strength ; and his being made a bishop, 
or his accepting a call to another post of labor, or his death, should 
cause a vacancy, how shall it best be filled ? On our American plan, 



Appendix. 27 1 

the vestry — generally some seven, nine, or twelve of the leading laymen 
of the parish, elected annually in Easter week — can call any priest of 
the Church in good standing, in any diocese, and no bishop has a 
canonical right to refuse him if he comes with clean papers. These 
Easter elections of vestrymen are generally mere forms. When the 
parish is at peace, scarce half a dozen voters ever attend, and a little 
judicious influence, exercised kindly by a wise rector, will in a few 
years give him a vestry thoroughly in harmony with himself. In case 
of his death, they will surely get a successor as perfectly in harmony 
with his tone and spirit as they can, and 7iobody can hinde}' them. If 
their beloved rector has gone to another field, his influence will regulate 
the succession almost as a matter of course. Those astonishing calami- 
ties which startle us so often, as happening among you — where a united, 
harmonious, zealous parish is scattered to the winds, or blighted in a 
day, by the arbitrary appointment of a new incumbent utterly out of 
harmony with his predecessor — are siinply impossible on our American 
plan. 

With us, therefore, the evil that a priest may do in a parish is more 
transient, and the good that he may do is more surely permanent, than 
with you. Our plan — with all its drawbacks — is better than yours in 
both directions. 

Its excellence will be equally apparent if we try it by another test. 
What should we put in place of it ? The favorite plan here, with 
those who are dissatisfied, is to give the nomination to all vacant par- 
ishes to the bishop of the diocese for the time being. This might do 
very well in ancient days, when the bishop was the channel of the 
direct apostolic tradition. But in our days, when we are trying to 
work a true spiritual reform in the Church from within, it is a totally 
different question. Tradition, as we all know, is of the essence of the 
episcopate. The instinct of bishops is almost invariably to hand down 
the working system of the Church just as they received it. As they 
are mostly elderly men by the time they are consecrated, their effort is 
to perpetuate the tone of the past generation, rather than to encourage 
that which is advancing in the present. Every reform fro7n ivithin, 
therefore, 7mist count tpon the bishops for its otemies for at least a 
whole generatio7t ; and it will be a fortunate thing if the opposition 
does not continue for two or three generations. And this is well, for 
otherwise changes would be too easy, and all stability would be de- 
stroyed. If the new movement be of God, it will not die out, but will 
only be deepened and steadied and strengthened by opposition. The 
long struggle will teach humility to the human instruments through 
whom it is carried to success. The first generation will be kept humble 
by opposition, denunciation, and defeats, and possibly defections and 
blunders. The second generation will be kept humble by knowing 
that, though they may reap the fruit, they did not sow the seed, or bear 
the burden and" heat of the day. And the final triumph will be far 
more permanent than if it had been more easily gained. Look at the 
episcopate of England to-day, with the Primate of all England (Abp, 
Tait) at the head of it. They are 7iozv ready unanimously to commend 



2/2 A Champion of the Cross. 

the wonderful Church revival that began with the Oxford movement 
of more than forty years ago. But the episcopate of England was 
equally wianijuous in condciiDiing it forty years ago. And even 
now, though unanimously approving it, they are almost as unanimous 
in condemning the Ritualistic movement of to-day, which is as insepar- 
ably connected with the other as the butterfly is with the caterpillar. 
If the nomination to vacant parishes, therefore, be given to the bishops, 
every possible reform of the Church from within will be smothered in 
embryo. To urge other considerations, from the danger of family jobs 
for sons or sons-in-law, or cousins, or partisan friends, or the like, is 
needless. You all know much more about those things in England 
than we do here ; not that our bishops here are any better than yours 
by nature ; but here a kind Providence gives them no chance to do any 
thing of that sort — thanks to our vestry system. 

Another plan of providing for the patronage is to give it to a central 
board, whether clergy or laity, or both, or to them jointly with the 
bishop. The inevitable working of this plan is, to give the preference 
to the mean avej-age, and to taboo all " extreme men " of every school. 
The tendency of this is to increasing narrowness, generation after 
generation. Extreme men are of the greatest value, because they keep 
the arms of a true comprehensiveness wide open. A bishop might 
possibly, now and then, be brought to regard extreme men with some 
favor ; but a central board, never ! The guaranty of our comprehen- 
siveness is, therefore, the freedom of vestries in making their own 
calls, just as, with you, it is an incidental benefit resulting from the 
present anomalous condition of Church patronage among you. But 
our form of it is the safer, and with less danger of abuse. We have 
no Dean Stanley. We have no Stopford Brooke. 

If the power is to be lodged neither with the bishop nor with a 
central board, so a combination of the two would be worse than either 
alone, for it would ensure all the faults of both, and give no chance for 
the good points which might possibly be found now and then in either 
the one or the other. Of course, if a bishop be of the right sort, one 
who knows how to win and keep the confidence of his people, he will 
be consulted in many, if not in all, cases of vacancies in his diocese, 
and his advice will be practically equivalent to a nomination. But if a 
bishop be of the right sort, he will have this influence anyhow, and no 
canon could take it away from him. If he be 7iot of the right sort, no 
canon ought to give it to him, for he could never be trusted to make 
the right use of it. 

In a country like ours, the idea that the right of nomination to 
vacant parishes should be bought and sold in open market, or run with 
the possession of a certain estate, is of course out of the question. 

Now, if the right is not to be given to the bishop, nor to a central 
board, nor to one private individual, to whom can it be entrusted but 
to a local board, the leading persons of the congregation concerned — in 
other words, the vestry ? They are personally the most deeply inter- 
ested. They are to receive their spiritual ministrations from the priest 
appointed. They are to benefit by, or suffer from, his personal pecul- 



Appendix. 273 

iarities. They 3Mt to furnish his income by voluntary contributions out 
of their own pockets. T/icy are more directly interested, therefore, 
than bishop, central board, and all other parties put together. To in- 
trust the selection of the priest to them, therefore, must necessarily be 
the safest and the least liable to objection of all modes thinkable. 

Nor is it correct to say that this really involves the absurdity of the 
taught choosing their own teacher, the sheep ruling their own shep- 
herd. It does no such thing. No person is eligible, by any vestry, 
until he has been duly examined by the canonical authorities and sol- 
emnly ordained to the priesthood by a bishop, that ordination being, on 
the lowest view, the certificate of the episcopal order that that priest 
is canonically qualified and fit to take charge of any cure of souls to 
which he may be called ; and so long as that priest is "in good and 
regular standing," that position " is a standing, guarantee to the same 
effect." When any vestry calls any priest, then, they simply take the 
bishops at their word, that the priest is a proper man to be called. As 
to all the infinite variety of points touching personal appearance, voice, 
manner, character, tone of theology, grade of ritual, and what not — all 
of which are within the canonical comprehensiveness of the Church — 
the parish is a better judge of what it really wants than anybody else ; 
and to trust it to make its own selection, by its own vestry, is less likely 
to be seriously abused, than to trust the power of selection to any other 
party or parties less directly interested in making 2i good q\\o\z^. (The 
idea of a popular election by all the communicants of a parish, is open 
to objections of another kind, and has no friends on this side of the 
water in our Church.) 

But the toughest and most important part of the patronage problem 
is, the selection of the persons to be consecrated bishops. Now, in 
theory, the bishops are the rightful, original, perpetual, indefeasible 
chief rulers of the Church — the one channel through which alone our 
historic succession from the Apostles can be demonstrated — the one 
channel through which alone a valid ordination can be obtained by any 
priest or deacon. Ecclesia est in episcopo. If any true representa- 
tives of the Church can be found anywhere, they should — in theory — 
be the bishops. And the bishops themselves are never weary of re- 
asserting this, their traditional position, and claiming the fulness of 
their traditional power. But when there is a conflict of true interests 
between the Church and the civil government, where — since the revolu- 
tion of 1688 — have your bishops always been found.? Suppose that 
the relations between England and France were such, that all nomina- 
tions for promotion in the British army were to be made only by the 
king or emperor or president of France, and a war should break out 
between the two countries, how many victories would be won by the 
British armies ? In every such contest, except only the immortal seven 
in the reign of James II., your bishops have, as a body, invariably sold 
you out to the e7ie7ny. And nothing is more natural. The priestly 
power which they received from the Church, they shared equally with 
twenty thousand other priests. The honor of being selected to be a 
bishop, they owe, not to the Church, but to the Prime Minister of the 

18 



274 A Champio7i of the Cross. 

day ; and, like human beings, they are grateful to the power that made 
them. It is not only that they always take Caesar's side ; but it is the 
calm and serene unconsciousness that there ever can be any difference 
between Cesar's interests and those of God, that is amazing to the 
churchly mind. Look, for the crowning instance, at the way in which 
the judicial and disciplinary powers, inherent in the episcopal office 
from the beginning, and maintained more or less clearly through all 
the ages down to the year 1879, were then coolly, nay eagerly, 7nade a 
pj-esoit of to Parliament and a purely Parliamentary judge ! And now 
the whole episcopate is howling with indignation and rage at the faith- 
ful priests who are willing to go to jail in the hope of recovering, to 
these treacherous prelates, that precious jewel of their order, which 
they had themselves so shamefully, nay, shamelessly, thrown away ! 

No measure for Church Reform is worth thinking of which does not 
include — if indeed it does not begin at — the restoring to the Church 
the selection of her own bishops. And 3-et this seems to be a matter 
in which the waters have yet hardly begun to stir. Years ago, when 
the new sees were first spoken about, with an endowment to be provided 
by private individuals entirely, it seemed as if the time were surely at 
hand for a change. If the Government funds had provided the endow- 
ment, it would have been natural enough for the Government to nom- 
inate the new bishop as usual. But that Government should give not 
one penny, but should regnij'c an endowment to be raised of from 
^20,000 to ^80,000; that all ih'xs, should be paid in out of the pockets 
of private individuals, and that Government should then impudently 
pocket the patronage created by private liberality — in advance — seemed 
to be inpossible. And yet it took place as easily as if it were " all 
right." To me, it was simply amazing. 

But what remedy is possible .'' It clearly will not do to restore an 
absolute right of choice to the cathedral chapters, reduced as they are, 
and appointed in such a way as to make them no better representatives 
of the Church than the bishops themselves. It will not do to abolish 
l\\t conge d'eli7-e — the last faint reminiscence of the former rights of 
the Church, thus kept alive as a hope for the future. It will not do to 
have bishops made merely by letters patent, and thus abandon the 
Church's ancient right altogether. To attempt to alter the law may 
at present be unwise, as it would probably be unsuccessful. But a sen- 
sible Prime ^Minister, who feels the delicate and difficult responsibility 
of the nomination of bishops, might easily find a way to cut the Gor- 
dian knot. When a see was vacant, or a new see erected, he might 
say, officially, that the one name presented to him before such a day 
by a majority of the clergy and laity of the diocese concerned, voting 
by orders and by ballot, should be the name inserted in the letter mis- 
sive that accompanied the coiige d'elire. This mode of settling Jiis 
own choice of the iridividual would be so popular in the Church at 
large, that no successor would dare to depart from the precedent thus 
set. And the old forms, with a new soul in them, might go on until 
the reorganization of the Church could make the process a little more 
direct. 



Appendix, 275 

But take care not to be deluded by any proposal that the Church 
shall send in two or three names, of which the Prime Minister shall 
select oiie. So long as the selection of a name is to be left to him in 
any measure or degree, he is sure to choose the one that the State can 
rely on, rather than the Church ; and the Church will continue to be 
cheated in the result. Let there then be one name ; and as the Church 
has done all the choosing, she will have a fair chance to secure fidelity 
in the one chosen. Remember how the Pope manages to amuse his 
priests with allowing them to send him three names for a vacant epis- 
copate, and then he chooses one of them — or some one else whom he 
likes better. The actual determining as to the particular individual, en- 
sures the inner allegiance. 

This asking for a nominee on the part of clergy and laity presup- 
poses some organization of the laity by the vohmtary act of the Church. 
This is the best way for it to originate, rather than to wait for an Act 
of Parliament to constitute the lay body, as in the case of the Church 
of Ireland. If the Church begins it, she can easily insist, from the 
first, that none shall be eligible except regular communicants. In this 
point we made one of our many blunders, not corrected yet, in all our 
Diocesan Conventions, but amended years ago in regard to our Gen- 
eral Convention, which alone deals with doctrine. When the body of 
laity is thus constituted by the Church, and in working order, no act 
of disestablishment would venture to set it aside or constitute another 
and a different lay body. 

The proposal of the Convocation of Canterbury for the establishment 
of a " Provincial House of Laymen " is very good as far as it goes, but 
it would not be found as effective, if meeting and debating separately 
from the clergy, and only on certain points. Co-ordinate powers and 
position, meeting and debating in one body, but with the vote by orders 
as the protection to each order, is the true thing to aim for. The provin- 
cial idea, also, does not go far enough. One great cause of the deadlock 
of Church machinery in England is the existence of only two provinces, 
one of which is so numerous that it is constantly tempted to feel as if 
it were the whole ; while the other is so small, that it is tempted to 
pursue an obstructive course, if for no other reason than to prevent its 
being overslaughed altogether. If the Welsh dioceses were reconsti- 
tuted into a province, with an Archbishop of St. David's at their head, 
it certainly would not hinder the revival of Church growth, now so 
happily begun within that Principality. And if two or three other 
provinces were erected within the present overgrown province of Can- 
terbury, there would then be less obstruction from mutual jealousies, 
and every one would then feel the necessity of having one national 
synod in which the entire English Church should act as a unit — 
bishops, clergy, and laity. To this alone should the delicate work of 
legislatio7i be intrusted. On our American plan, where each petty 
Diocesan Convention makes its own "constitutions" and body of 
" canons " (subject, of course, to those of the General Convention), the 
work of so-called " legislation " is run into the ground. 

There is one most important point to be touched on, which I have 



2/6 A Champion of the Cross. 

never so much as seen any allusion to, in all \'Our discussions on the 
subject. There has been plenty said, indeed, about the danger of an 
imperhun i7i imperio. Some years ago I read the report of a speech 
by a leading Non-conformist, who declared himself entirely opposed to 
the disestablishment of the Church of England. He acknowledged 
that it would be greatly to the benefit of the spiritual life and vigor of 
the Church to be set free from the State : " But," he asked, " what in 
that case would become of the liberties of the Stated The Church 
would embrace more than a majority of the people in one organization ; 
and religious zeal being a stronger motive generally than any ordinary 
political object, no Parliament of England would ever be able to resist 
the Church. " To preserve the independence of the State," he said, 
" he must continue to oppose the idea of restoring freedom to the 
Church." I have never seen any attempt to answer the objection. , Yet 
there is an answer. 

The history of the Church shows a general, and seemingly irresist- 
ible tendency, on the part of purely clerical synods, to get into conflicts 
with the civil power for supremacy. During the whole mediaeval period 
(and the Papacy is merely a prolongation of that, in its worst features) 
the feudal system culminated instinctively in one visible head. If two 
men will ride on one horse, one must ride behind. Both the Pope and 
the Emperor were determined to ride first ; and neither was willing 
to ride behind the other. The modern theory is truer and better in 
every way. It is to separate the spheres, so that each shall be supreme 
in his (nun sphere ; and that there should be wise and careful and 
kindly co-operation where the spheres overlap. The development of 
modern civilization shows, more and more, that if there is to be one 
master, it will not be the Pope, much less any other cleric. His ancient 
domineering over kings and kaisers has so far changed, that there is 
not now an emperor, king, or president anywhere in the whole world 
to lift a musket for him, or to care for all the anathemas or interdicts 
he may be foolish enough to utter. No purely clerical legislative 
body will now be tolerated anywhere in the civilized world. 

Now, the true operation of the laity, when admitted into fully co-or- 
dinate position in all Church synods with the clerg}% will be to destroy 
all probability of dangerous collisions beweeeji the Church and the 
State. And the reason will be clear^ on a little reflection. In all free 
countries Government necessarily assumes the form of government by 
party. In every National Church, the lay members, as well as the 
clerical, will be attached more or less to both political parties. But in 
the case of the clerg}', the religious interests are so entirely predominant, 
that it would not be difficult, on grounds of conscience (or what seems 
to be such in times of excitement), to produce a corporate resistance to 
some legitimate exertion of power on the part of the State. The case 
as to the laity, however, is very different. In a body of such vast im- 
portance as the National Synod of England, it would only be natural 
and proper, and mdeed inevitable, that Churchmen of great national 
eminence should, from both parties in national politics, be sent as lay 
deputies to the synod. Now, the life-calling of the laymen, in cases 



Appendix. 277 

like these, is practical politics. They are professional experts in this 
direction, just as the clergy are professional experts in the direction of 
doctrine, discipline, worship, and Cathohc tradition generally. In case 
any measure were proposed that would have an undue political bearing, 
if it were one that the Conservatives could make something of, some 
Liberal laymen would be found to object instantly : and if it be one 
that would help the Liberals, some Conservative laymen w^ould be 
equally on the watch. When the laymen were all united, it would be 
clear that the Government ought to, and would respect the conscien- 
tious convictions of so large a body of the people, of both parties. The 
operation of this has often been most beneficially manifested in our 
General Conventions, where Judges of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, Senators of the United States, Governors of States, Members 
of Congress, or those who have once filled such offices, often come 
as simple lay-deputies from the dioceses in which they reside, and give 
to the Church the benefit of their experience of a lifetime. The whole- 
some effect of it always is to teach prudence and propriety, and to 
keep the Church from meddling, though with the best of motives, in 
that which is really none of her business. Thus, with the laity in their 
proper co-ordinate position, the anticipated difficulties of an imperiuni 
in imperio would never occur. The laity would be a perpetual y?z/.r, 
by which the constitutional antagonisms of the clergy and the State 
would be reduced, melted, moulded, moderated, compromised, or en- 
tirely removed. The importance of this consideration cannot be exag- 
gerated. The large proportion of laymen with national reputations 
that would be brought together in any meeting of a synod representing 
the entire Church of England, would at once command the perfect 
confidence of all Englishmen, that no such body would ever run amuck 
against the legitimate powers of the British Parliament. 

Such a position, given to such laymen, would likewise render disen- 
dowment — except perhaps a few cheese-parings of sinecures and such 
like — morally impossible. Neither party would venture to advocate it, 
for fear of bringing down upon them a greater loss of political power 
than they could possibly make up by gains in any other quarter through 
a policy of spoliation. With the laity in Synod, the whole nation could 
easily be made to see that disendowment meant really that one part of 
the laity should rob another part of the laity by act of Parliament. 
And when that was seen, it would not be done, it could not be 
done. 

And now for a few general considerations in closing. 

Ever since the time of Constantine, wherever there has been no form 
of Church organization to secure to the Church laity their proper 
influence, the lay power, organized as the civil government, has domi- 
neered over the Church from the outside, and every now and then 
plundered her by .wholesale, besides insisting on the right to control 
the promotion to all her chief offices. The natural leaders and consti- 
tutional rulers of the Church, in all these ages, have been under first 
mortgage to her most formidable enemy. The struggle to regain some- 
thing, has led the Church to submit to the Papacy on the continent ; 



278 A Champion of the Cross. 

and the degradation of religion on all sides has led to continental 
infidelity and communism. 

In England, after the papal difficulty had been gotten rid of, the 
other was intensified, until the results — though not so deep-seated, 
acrid, and inveterate as on the continent — are nevertheless so vast as 
to stagger the power of apprehension. If she had merely retained the 
ground she held at the opening of the Reformation, with its natural 
increase, making no fresh conquests, only think what the British 
Church would now be ! But the terrible loss of spiritual flexibility and 
power involved in her " established " relations with the State, has cost 
her nearly the whole of Scotland, four-fifths of Ireland, nearly the 
entire mass of the great Protestant sects that dominate this country, 
and nearly one-half of the home population in England besides ! What 
further proof of the " great advantages of our establishment " do sen- 
sible men require } 

On the other hand, the poor little Church of Scotland, almost exter- 
minated by her connection with the State, is reviving to a wonderful 
degree, a majority of her sees having either built or begun cathedrals 
within the present generation. 

The Church of Ireland {fit experimenttim in corpore vili'), brought 
to an almost intolerable degree of degradation by her State connection, 
has been mending ever since it ceased. Remember the bear-garden at 
the beginning of her synodical sessions, with Lord James Butler as 
high-cockalorum of the Protestants on the rampage, and the terrible 
threatenings of what " the laity " were going to do with the " remnants 
of Popery " in the Prayer-book ! But being compelled to meet the 
clergy face to face, in equal discussion, year after year (though the 
clergy were nothing to boast of as a whole), the Irish laity have been 
learning, year by year, what nobody could make them learn before. 
And slowly, but steadily, the tone of the whole body has been rising, 
until, when the "revision" was completed, those were least satisfied 
with the result who themselves had set the ball in motion. And if the 
bishops and clergy had only been a little more firm in the use of their 
vote by orders, the result might have been somewhat better still. But 
if the experiment has worked well, even in Ireland, it cannot possibly 
work otherwise than well in any other part of the Church. 

In this country, notwithstanding our long colonial asphyxiation, 
when the Church was deliberately smothered by the State for State 
purposes ; notwithstanding the fact that she was well-nigh extinct at 
the close of the Revolutionary War, loaded with political as well as 
religious obloquy, and that it was a whole generation before even the 
gift of the episcopate brought back to her the signs of returning life ; 
notwithstanding the fact that we have faithfully copied as many of your 
blunders as we could, besides making others of our own ; notwithstand- 
ing our " hideous vestr}- system," our non-communicant membership 
of vestries and conventions, and faulty tenure of Church property ; 
notwithstanding our imperfect judicial system ; our failure, thus far, to 
establish provinces, our feebleness of plan in having the senior bishop 
by consecration as the presiding bishop of our national Church, and 



Appendix. 279 

other drawbacks too numerous to mention — we have, nevertheless, 
during nearly a century since our full organization, been gaining 
steadily on our growth of population, even although that growth is the 
most rapid that the world has ever seen, and although it is so largely 
made up of foreign elements which are, for a generation or two, almost 
wholly beyond our reach. Nay, more than this : our influence has per- 
ceptibly modified every other leading variety of religion in this country, 
so that the general movement, which is more or less perceptible, is 
steadily and predominantly a movement toward us. We are the evi- 
dent centre of gravity of all the varieties of Christianity now known in 
the land. 

Your own colonial Churches all tell the same story, each in its own 
proportion and degree. Not one of them has failed to give the laity 
an organic place and co-ordinate position. Not one of them has lost 
in strength, zeal, power, or tone of Churchmanship. All have gained. 

And let me appeal specially to the experience of advanced men at 
home. What would the whole movement of the great CathoHc revival 
have been without the laity .'' Where would have been the enormous 
gifts for churches, church schools, and all manner of good works, that 
have made the Anglican Church during the past forty years the marvel 
of Christendom, without the laity .^ Where would have been your two 
" fighting " societies — the English Church Union and the Church of 
England Working Men's Association — without the laity } They have 
proved themselves, in every way, fit to be trusted. Then trust them. 

And how can you hesitate ? Your secular lay power now monopo- 
lizes — practically in entire independence of the bishops and clergy — the 
absolute control of Church legislation. Church discipline, and the ap- 
pointment to high office in the Church ; and even impudently claims 
the power of legislation on doctrine without consulting the Convocation ; 
besides constantly threatening you with that wholesale confiscation of 
which they have given you more than one specimen in former days. 
Your alternative is to grant to the Church laity, organized as such, an 
ttndivided third part of that power which is now tyrannically usurped in 
its entirety by the secular lay pow^r — an undivided third part, to be 
exercised at every point, under the supervising influence, and modified 
by the indispensable co-operation of, the two orders of bishops and 
clergy : and yet you hesitate ! 

Anyhow, whether you advocate it or not, the change is coming. It 
will soon be on you, whether or no. Resistance is useless. By resist- 
ance you may force it into some very undesirable position. By boldly 
and fearlessly going _/(9r it, you can ensure its being realized in its best 
shape, and reap the earlier benefit from its triumph. It should be the 
first point, the chief point, in your " plan of campaign," instead of being 
omitted altogether, or left to drift along at the mercy of a " fortuitous 
concourse of atoms." In short, with the laity properly organized by the 
voluntary action of" the Church, and that position subsequently recog- 
nized, directly or indirectly, by the State, the benefits of disestablish- 
ment would be substantially gained already, and disendowment would 
be made well-nigh impossible. 



28o A Champion of the Cross. 

It is with the utmost diffidence that I submit these thoughts to the 
brave brethren who are dearest to me in England. The venture would 
not be made but for the reflection that one who lives close under the 
base of a lofty mountain seldom sees its shape, because the nearer, 
though lower, foot-hills shut out the sight. Only one who views it from 
a certain distance can truly delineate its outline of grandeur and beauty. 
If this thought will not plead my excuse, I would then urge that I have 
resisted for many years the desire to write on this subject, and only at 
last have reluctantly executed my task. If even this will not bring me 
pardon for taking the liberty to write as I have done, I shall be content 
to accept the rebukes of my English brethren in loving silence, and 
trouble them with no further intrusion hereafter. 

John Henry Hopkins. 

WiLLIAMSPORT, Pa., 

January 2o, i88i. 



LETTERS OF DR. R. F. LITTLEDALE. 

Dr. Hopkins was sometimes called " the American Littledale," and, 
in some points, there was a certain likeness between them. Yet the 
comparison is unjust to them both. The two carried on a regular and 
ver}^ frequent correspondence. Very many of Littledale's notes were 
written in Latin on postal cards, and signed Parva Vallis ; i.e.. Little 
Dale. Some of these were astonishing in the audacity of combina- 
tions and rhymes. 

The first of the letters here given relates to Dr. Hopkins' article, 
" Three Points," in the beginning. The latter part of it has a refer- 
ence appropriate to Hopkins' article on " The Laity in England and 
America." There was no possibility of reconciling the views of the 
two priests upon this point. Dr. Hopkins stood almost alone among 
high Churchmen in justifying the present relations of the laity toward 
the legislation of the Church. 

" 5o^a Sunday, 1888. 

" My Dear Dr. Hopkins : Yes, I had worked out all three of 
your points, the wilfulness of the Reformed breach with Episcopacy, the 
mainly political character of Elizabeth's penal code, and the compara- 
tive slightness of Anglican failures. I particularly noted that as to the 
last point, the respectability of Quakerism and Methodism, the two 
sects to which the Anglican Church has given birth, when compared 
with those which have sprung out of the Church of Rome — a strong 
point in our favor. 

" I can give you Roman Catholic testimony in favor of No. 2, should 
you wish to deal more fully with the matter on some future occasion. 

" I hope your move to Burlington will give you strength as well as 
leisure for Church work of a literar>^ kind. The Erastianism of the 
American Church, far more subtle, searching, and dangerous than our 



Appendix. 



281 



English Erastianism — I mean, of course, the lay synodical vote — the 
' call ' system, and the power of the vestries, is the rampant evil which 
now most needs to be extirpated. The plea that the laity cannot carry 
a vote against the bishops and presbyters breaks down when stated 
conversely that the bishops and clergy cannot carry a vote against the 
laity, though the matter might be the attempted condemnation of some 
heresy — say spiritualism — that chanced to be widely popular amongst 
lay folks, and to which the Church would be virtually committed by 
the failure to condemn. That is the ultimate difficulty that no plaus- 
ible defence of the lay vote can get round ; it places the powers of 
teaching, binding, and loosing in the wrong hands ; wrong as uncom- 
missioned by Xt., wrong as incompetent for lack of necessary knowl- 
edge. Upset this, and your name will rank with Seabury's as a bene- 
factor to the American Church. I am in bad health, rather more so 
than usual, but I hope I may say ' Faint, yet pursuing.' " 

" Rogation Monday, 1889. 

" My Dear Dr. Hopkins : I am very glad to know that you will 
review my * Petrine Claims,' because you will know where the salient 
points really are, and will make the public know them too. Kindly 
emphasize what I say in my Preface of the legal nature of the argu- 
ment, and the relative subordination of theology throughout, as delib- 
erate, and not resulting from oversight. 

. . . " I am much interested just now in a revision of the Scottish 
Liturgy which is on foot. I have sent in many suggestions, but I have 
no guess how they will be received. The draft is more tentative and 
timid than I quite like, but I admit the difficulties in the way of the 
heroic method of treatment, especially as the English bishops have to 
be conciliated on issues where the English rite needs pulling up. 
Thanks for sending me Dr. Richey's Parables'' 



Ecce nova forma chartas 
Orientali ex parte 
Factae Britannorum arte, 
Tarn Mercurio quam Marte, 
Rhythmis, quos hie vides, fortas 
Denarii pretio et quarts 
(Viles census etiam spartia) 
Missa ab Hetrasco, Larte, 
Tibi, Joanni Henrico, 
Cui millies salvere dico, 
Mirandula doctiori Pico, 
Meo tamen et amico, 
Maneas ut semper talis 
Hie precatur parva Vallis. 
Dab. Kal. Julii., mdccclxxv." 



282 



A CJianipioJi of the Cross. 



Dr. Hopkins to Dr. Littledale. 



Felix es, O Pan^a Vallis ! 

Tuta semper sis a malis ! 

Sint tutamen tibi montes, 

Tibi fluant vivi fontes, 

Tui rores, tui flores, " 

Tui redolent odores, 

Tamenetsi tuse rosas — 

Manibus in Puritanis, 

Infidelibus, profanis, — 

Aliquantulam spinosae : 

Kal. Sep., mdccclxxv. — Plattsburg, N. Y. 



"THREE POINTS." 

An Essay read before the Associate Alumni of the General Theologi- 
cal Seminary, in the Seminary Chapel, New York, May 31, 1887. 

For many years three points have presented themselves to my mind 
with great force, in considering the relations of different parts of Chris- 
tendom to one another, and yet I do not remember having ever seen 
that attention paid to them which they seem to me to deserve. Nor 
shall I be able to do them justice now. The full consideration of them 
would require far more of time and of books than a country parson can 
command, and far more of opportunity to listen than our brief annual 
meeting could afford. All I can do, therefore, is to set before you a few 
sketch-like hints, which, perhaps, some one having more leisure and 
learning may work up hereafter in a manner not now possible to me. 

I. The first of these three points is in regard to the loss of Apostolic 
order in the Reformation movement on the continent — the chief point 
of organic difference between the Anglican Reformation and the 
others. It is commonly said that this loss was a matter of necessity — 
that they had to do without bishops on the continent because none of 
the bishops would take part with the Reformers. 

The point I would make is that, historically, this is not true. There 
were bishops enough to have preserved the Apostolic succession for 
them, if they had cared to do it ; and the neglect was, therefore, due 
to other causes. 

The full proof of this can hardly be given without a minute search 
of the more diffuse records of the times ; for our general historians 
would hardly stop to notice facts which are not in the front rank of 
importance from their point of view. The facts which I shall lay be- 
fore you are gathered mainly from Reverend Henry M. Baird's " His- 
tory of the Rise of the Huguenots of France " — a work in two octavo 
volumes, covering- the history of only sixty-two years in all, and thus 
affording unusual room for minuteness of detail, although Mr. Baird is 
not a Churchman, and does not dream of making out the point of which 
he so unconsciously furnishes the evidence. 

The two who are named first among the French Reformers are the 
learned Lefevre, of Etaples, and the ardent Farel. The third, he says, 
was Guillaume Brigonnet, Bishop of Meaux. His father had been a 
cardinal, as well as' Abbot of St. Germain-des-Pres, and Archbishop of 
Rheims, and had anointed Louis XII. at his coronation. As cardinal 
he had headed the French party in the Conclave, and in the service 
of his king had faced the dangers of an open quarrel with the Pope. 



284 A Champion of the Cross. 

The cardinal was now dead, having left to Guillaume — born before his 
father had taken Holy Orders — a good measure f that royal favor 
which he had himself enjoyed. He was made Archdeacon of Rheims 
and of Avignon, Abbot of St. Germain-des-Pres, and lastly, Bishop of 
Lodeve and of Meaux. He showed early his reforming tendencies by 
his efforts to make the luxurious inmates of St. Germain observe better 
discipline. Brigonnet was appointed Bishop of Meaux in March, 1516, 
and about the same time was sent by Francis I. as special envoy to treat 
with the Pope. He had been at Rome on similar business in the time 
of Louis XII. The knowledge thus gained of the way in which things 
were done at Rome, convinced him of the urgent need of reform ; and 
he resolved to begin the work in his own diocese. 

He invited both Lefevre and Farel to make their home at Meaux ; 
and they came, followed soon by Michel d' Arande, Gerard Roussel, and 
others of the same sort. " A new era," says Baird, " now dawned 
upon the neglected diocese of Meaux. Bishop Briconnet was fully 
possessed by his new-born zeal. The king's mother and his only sister 
had honored him with a visit not long after Lefevre's arrival, and had 
left him, confident of their powerful support in his intended reforms, 
" I assure you," Margaret of Angouleme wrote him, not a month later, 
"that the King and Madame are entirely decided to let it be understood 
that the truth of God is not heresy." And a few weeks later, the same 
princely correspondent wrote that her mother and brother were " more 
intent than ever upon the reformation of the Church." The effect of 
the new preaching at Meaux was great. The wool-carders, weavers, 
and fullers accepted it with delight ; the day-laborers flocked from the 
neighborhood at har\^est-time, and carried back the new enthusiasm to 
their secluded homes. Bishop Briconnet himself was active in promot- 
ing the evangelical work, preaching against the most flagrant abuses, 
and commending the other preachers whom he had invited. He actu- 
ally said to his flock : " Even if I, your bishop, should change my 
speech and teaching, beware that you change not with me ! " 

Under Briconnet's protection Lefevre made and published (in 1523) 
a translation of the New Testament, and then of the whole Bible, into 
French, which was earlier than a similar work was done in England. 
The bishop freely supplied copies to those who were too poor to buy. 
He introduced the French Scriptures into the churches of Meaux, where 
the innovation of reading the lessons in a tongue that they could under- 
stand astounded the common people. The delighted Lefevre wrote to 
a distant friend : " You can scarcely imagine with what ardour God is 
moving the minds of the simple in some places to embrace His Word, 
since the books of the New Testament have been published in French. 
. . , At present, throughout our entire diocese, on feast-days, and 
especially on Sundays, both the Epistle and Gospel are read to the 
people in the vernacular tongue, and the parish priest adds a word of 
exhortation to the Epistle or Gospel, or both, at his discretion." All 
this was far stronger encouragement than the great Catholic revival of 
our own day ever received from any bishop in its earlier days. True, 
stern and formidable opposition soon arose. Briconnet was cited be- 



Appendix. 285 

fore the Parliament of Paris to answer, in secret session, before a com- 
mission. He was dealt with in such wise as to break his courage, and 
stop the public instruction of his people in the Holy Scriptures. He 
was acquitted of the charge of heresy, indeed, though they made him 
pay two hundred livres as the expense of bringing to trial the heretics 
whom he had helped to make. A man converted in that way is very 
likely to be " of the same opinion still." 

But Brigonnet was not the only bishop who sympathized with re- 
form. He was a noble as well as a bishop ; but the same side was 
taken by one nobler than he, and higher both in Church and State. 
This was Odet de Coligny, the elder brother of Admiral de Coligny, 
and of D'Andelot, of the blood royal, who was created Cardinal of 
Chatillon at the early age of thirteen, and afterward Archbishop of 
Toulouse, and Bishop and Count of Beauvais. As early as 1551 he 
was pretty well known to be in sympathy with the Lutherans. In 
Easter week, 1561, there were outbreaks of violence against the Prot- 
estants in many parts of France, one of the most noted of which was 
at Beauvais, Chatillon's own cathedral. He had openly fostered the 
preachers of reform in his diocese. " But," says Baird, " even the per- 
sonal popularity of the brother of Coligny and D'Andelot could not, in 
the present instance, secure immunity for the preachers who proclaimed 
the gospel under his auspices. The occasion was a rumor spread 
abroad that the cardinal, instead of attending the public celebration of 
the Mass in his cathedral church, had, with his domestics, participated 
in a private communion in his own palace, and that every communicant 
had, at the hands of the Abbe Boutillier, received both elements ' after 
the fashion of Geneva.' Hereupon the mob, gathering in great force, 
assailed a private house in which there lived a priest accused of teach- 
ing the children the doctrines of religion from the reformed catechisms. 
The unhappy Adrien Fourre — such was the schoolmaster's name — was 
killed ; and the rabble, rendered more savage through their first taste 
of blood, dragged his corpse to the public square, where it was burned 
by the city hangman. Chatillon himself incurred no little risk of meet- 
ing a similar fate. But the strength of the episcopal palace, and the 
sight of their bishop clothed in his cardinal's costume, appeased the 
mob for the time ; and before the morrow came a goodly number of 
the neighboring nobles had rallied to his defence." Surely, one of the 
most striking incidents of those strange days was to see a Roman car- 
dinal receiving the Huguenot communion, and afterward masquerad- 
ing in his cardinal's vestments to prevent his being torn in pieces by 
the rabble of his own people for the act ! Again, in the preparations 
for the famous Colloquy of Poissy, in the same year, 1561, when the 
assembled bishops were about to join in the Holy Eucharist, we read 
that " Cardinal Chatillon and two other bishops insisted upon commu- 
nicating under both forms ; and when their demand was refused, they 
went to another church and celebrated the Divine Ordinance with 
many of the nobility, all partaking both of the bread and of the wine, 
thus earning for themselves the nickname of Protestants." 

Two years later, 1563, Pius IV. issued a bull, calling for summary 



286 A Champion of the Cross. 

proceedings against sundry French bishops, Cardinal Chatillon being 
at the head of the Hst, followed by seven others ; but as he was rash 
enough to insert the name of the Queen of Navarre also, the French 
court made such a vigorous response that the bull was either recalled 
or dropped, and the proceedings against the bishops were indefinitely 
suspended. 

In the year 1565, the Pope's new Nuncio demanded that the red cap 
should be taken from the Cardinal of Chatillon. But the latter, who 
chanced to be at court, replied that " what he enjoyed, he enjoyed as 
the gift of the Crown of France, with which the Pope had nothing to 
do." And his uncle, the old Constable, was even more emphatic. 
" The Pope," said he, " has often troubled the quiet of this realm, but 
I trust he shall not be able to trouble it at this time. I am myself a 
Papist, but if the Pope and his ministers go about again to disturb the 
kingdom, my szoord shall be Huguenot. My nephew shall give up 
neither cap nor dignity which he has for the Pope, seeing the King's 
edict gives him liberty to keep them." 

Three years later, in 1 568, it seems that Cardinal Chatillon had been 
excommunicated by the Pope, condemned of schism, and was dead in 
the eyes of the law, and Catherine de ^ledici had promised to surrender 
him into the Pope's hands. Chatillon had come to court, under the 
King's safe-conduct, to treat for peace after the second civil war. 
Cardinal Santa Croce, the Nuncio, entering the council-chamber, boldly 
demanded the performance of Catherine's promise then and there. 
Catherine did not deny the promise, but said that this was an unsuit- 
able time for its fulfilment, owing to the King's safe-conduct. To this 
the Nuncio replied that no respect ought to be had toward Chatillon, 
for he was an excommunicated person, condemned of schism, and dead 
in the eyes of the law. At this point the Due de Montmorency broke 
out : " IVIadame, is it possible that the Cardinal Chatillon's delivery 
should come in question, being warranted by the King and your 
Majesty to the contrary, and I myself being made a mean therein ? 
Wherefore this matter is odious to be talked of, and against the law of 
arms and of all good civil policy ; and I must needs repute them my 
enemies who go about to make me falsify my promise once made." 
After these plain words Santa Croce departed, without attaining his 
most cruel and dishonorable request. 

Later in the same year, 1 568, it was in contemplation to seize Chatil- 
lon in his episcopal palace at Beauvais. The third civil war was then 
raging. But he received timely warning, and escaped through Nor- 
mandy to England, where Queen Elizabeth received him at court with 
marks of distinguished favor. He succeeded in getting Elizabeth to 
send substantial help to his distressed friends in France. 

In 1 570, about two months after the declaration of peace, Cardinal 
Chatillon, who had been deprived by the Pope of his seat in the Roman 
conclave, had also been declared by the Parliament of Paris, on motion 
of the Cardinal Bourbon, to have lost his bishopric of Beauvais on 
account of his rebellion and his adoption of Protestant sentiments. 
All such judicial proceedings had indeed been declared null and void 



Appendix. 287 

by the terms of the royal pacification ; but the parliaments were very 
reluctant to yield obedience to the royal edict. The King sent orders 
to the first president of the Parliament to wait upon him with the 
records. And when, after a second summons, they were brought, the 
King, with his own hands, tore out and destroyed every page that con- 
tained any action against the Cardinal Chatillon. 

But we must be brief in other cases ; for these were not all. We 
find mention made of Michel d'Arande, who was Bishop of Saint-Paul- 
Trois-Chateaux, in Dauphiny, and yet sympathized entirely with the 
Reformers, and was in confidential intercourse with them ; also of 
Gerard Roussel, who was appointed by the Queen of Navarre to be 
her preacher and confessor, and rose to be Abbot of Clairac and Bishop 
of Oleron ; yet he remained to his death a sincere friend of the Refor- 
mation. In his own diocese he set the example of a faithful pastor. 
Even so bitter an enemy of Protestantism as Florimond de Raemond, 
contrasting Roussel's piety with the wordliness of the sporting French 
bishops of the period, is forced to admit that " his pack of hounds was 
the crowd of poor men and women whom he daily fed ; his horses and 
attendants a host of children whom he caused to be instructed in letters." 

Another prelate is mentioned, the Bishop of Senlis, as being so 
much in favor with the Queen of Navarre that he translated for her 
into French the Book of Hours, omitting all that most directly coun- 
tenanced superstition. We read also of Cardinal Sadolet, Bishop of 
Carpentras, who readily certified to the falsity of the charges made 
against the Waldenses, exerted his influence with the vice-legate to 
induce him to abandon an attack on one of their villages, and assured 
the inhabitants that he firmly intended, in a coming^visit to Rome, to 
secure the reformation of some incontestable abuses. 

Another prelate we read of, Chatellain, Bishop of Macon, who was 
at one time favorable to the Reformation, though his courage was not 
equal to his convictions. 

Much better known, however, was Montluc, Bishop of Valence, who, 
in 1 560, when the Huguenots petitioned for liberty of worship, was their 
warmest and most uncompromising advocate. . . . This bold and 
eloquent harangue of the Bishop of Valence was followed, in the same 
discussion, by one still more cogent from the aged and virtuous Maril- 
lac. Archbishop of Vienne. He urged that " it was vain to expect a 
General Council, since between the Pope, the Emperor, the Kings, and 
the Lutherans, the right time and place and method of holding it could 
never be agreed upon by all ; and France w^as like a man desperately 
ill, whose fever admitted of no such delay as that a physician be called 
in from a distance. Hence the usual resort to a National Council, in 
spite of the Pope's discontent, was imperative. France could not 
afford to die in order to please his Holiness. Meanwhile, the prelates 
must be obliged to reside in their dioceses, nor must the Italians — 
those leeches that .absorbed one-third of all the benefices and an infinite 
number of pensions — be exempted from the operation of the general 
rule. Simony must be abolished at once, as a token of sincerity in the 
desire to reform the Church," etc., etc. 



288 A Champion of the Cross. 

Besides all these, we find Du Val, Bishop of Seez, in Normandy, 
mentioned in the same group with Bishop Montliic, and that Abbe 
Boutillier who administered the Holy Communion in Genevan fashion 
to Cardinal Chatillon. 

A very high authority gives us some other names. It is the bull of 
Pius W ., already mentioned, in which, after Cardinal Chatillon, he 
adds Romain, Archbishop of Aix ; Montluc, Bishop of Valence ; Gelais, 
Bishop of Uzes ; Roussel, Bishop of Oleron ; D'Albret, Bishop of Les- 
cure ; Giullart, Bishop of Chartres ; and Caraccioli, Bishop of Troyes, 
who had resigned his bishopric, and had been ordained a Protestant 
pastor — eight prelates in all. 

Besides all these, Jervis, in his " History of the Galilean Church," gives 
us the names of Jacques Spifame, Bishop of Nevers ; Pelissier, Bishop 
of Maguelonne ; Etienne Poncher, Bishop of Paris, and afterwards 
Archbishop of Sens, as sympathizing with the Reform, in the early pe- 
riod of the agitation, and Barbangon, Bishop of Pamiers, in the later. 

We have now enumerated no less than nineteen prelates, among 
w^hom are three archbishops and two cardinals, who are shown to have 
sympathized with the Reformation ; and of these, no less than eight 
are certified to us by the Pope himself, as Protestant enough to be ex- 
communicated. The Reform party, therefore, had bishops enough 
to have kept up the apostolic succession, had they chosen so to do. 
The plea of necessity, therefore, is utterly idle. They had them, but 
they would not use them. All consciousness of the importance of the 
question of valid orders seems to have been so utterly lost in the fierce 
controversies of the time that it never comes to the surface. Nay, so 
completely was it ignored, that we find one of the above bishops, an 
Italian, Caraccioli, accepting a new ordination as a Protestant pastor. 

[This action of Caraccioli, and of other French bishops not named 
by Dr. Hopkins, was in exact agreement with the Calvinistic and In- 
dependent theory as to " gathered Churches." The first founders of 
English Independents refused the title of ministers of Christ to non- 
conformist clerg}', as well as to the conforming prelatical clergy, because 
they lived in the Church of England, and did not leave it, as Separatists. 
Robinson said to the non-conforming clergy, " You have the same office 
as the mass priests, because you have been ordained by bishops." He 
also said to Bishop Hall, of Exeter, " Episcopal oxd\'!\2X\oVi prevents its 
receiver from being a minister of Christ, and it is to be renounced as a 
part of that sham clergy derived from Rome." Of himself, he said, 
that though ordained by a bishop, " I cast away v!\y popish priesthood,'' 
which, be it remembered, he had received from a bishop of the post- 
Reformation Church of England. 

These incidents will set forth the very basis of modern Congrega- 
tionalism, and show also how utterly unhistorical is the " good-natured " 
admission by Congregationalists that Episcopalians are good Evangel- 
ical Christians. If such had been the theory of the founders of their 
bodies, no separation from the Church of England would have been 
caused by them. They also show the crass ignorance of history of 
those among us who seek to meet them on their own ground. Such 



Appendix. 289 

liberalism is an insult to the true liberality of the mother Church, and 
treason against Christ. 

The French bishops did not continue their orders, because they re- 
nounced their episcopal ministry in accordance with the Calvinistic 
belief. C. F. S.] 

11. The second of the Three Points I am to touch upon is this : In 
England the Reforming party, as such, never drew the sword to defend 
themselves from persecution. They bore the persecution patiently, so 
long as it pleased God it should last. All the rebellions that were made 
in England during the Reformation period proper — except the personal 
movement for Lady Jane Grey — were made by the opponents of Re- 
form. As a reward for this patience and endurance, so it would seem, 
the good Providence of God accomplished the needed reform without 
disturbing a single foundation-stone of the old Church. But in France 
and in Germany, and in Scotland and elsewhere, impatience and per- 
secution provoked civil war, and that of the most obstinate and hurtful 
kind. This caused two great evils. First, the religious question was 
tangled up and lost in the political question. The other great evil is, 
that the going to war utterly lost all the spiritical fruit that otherwise 
would have been borne by persecution patiently endured. The early 
Church went through her ten persecutions without once resorting to 
armed defence against the most outrageous and cruel oppression. 
And this patient endurance — by the blessing of God — conquered the 
mighty Roman empire. So, in England, the burning of nearly two 
hundred of the Reformed party during the reign of Philip and Mary, 
patiently endured, turned the hearts of the nation so strongly, that 
after the accession of Elizabeth there was no serious obstacle to all 
the Reformation that was needed. In France the glorious martyr- 
doms, so bravely endured by Leclerc, Pauvan, De Berquin, Du Bourg, 
and innumerable others in the early part of the movement, produced a 
wonderful popular effect, which was spreading with astonishing ra- 
pidity. Even Catherine de Medici herself declared her intention to 
hear the Bishop of Valence preach before the young king and the 
court in the saloon of the castle. In that same year, 1 561, three weeks 
before the arrival of Beza to take part in the colloquy of Poissy, she 
wrote to the Pope of the " impossibility of restoring to unity (the number 
of those who had forsaken the Roman Church) by coercion, and de- 
clared it a mark of Divine favor that there were among the dissidents 
neither Anabaptists nor Libertines, for all held the creed as explained 
by the early councils of the Church. It was consequently the convic- 
tion of many that by the concession of some points of practice the 
present divisions might be healed. But more frequent and peaceful 
conferences must be held ; the ministers of religion must preach con- 
cord and charity to their flocks ; and the scruples of those who remain 
in the Church must be removed by the abolition of all unnecessary and 
objectionable practices. Images, forbidden by God and disapproved 
of by the Fathers, ought at once to be banished from public worship ; 
baptism ought to be stripped of its exorcisms ; communion in both kinds 

19 



290 A Champion of the Cross. 

to be restored ; the vernacular tongue to be employed in the services of 
the Church, and private masses to be discountenanced." 

Surely a wonderful letter to be written by such a person as Catherine 
de Medici, and to such a person as the Pope ! From it we may easily 
estimate the force of the current by which she was surrounded. Again 
and again the Court seemed on the very point of taking sides with the 
Reformation ; but every time the mixing up of rebellion with Protest- 
antism spoiled the prospect. A little more of patient endurance would 
have won the victory, and in such a way as to retain the ancient foun- 
dations of the national Church undisturbed. A few hundred might 
have been added to the number of martyrs in the meantime; but 
what was that compared to the tens of thousands that perished in 
the civil wars and massacres ? Baird defends the Huguenots in their 
taking up arms. Yet they had endured persecution for only about 
one generation, while the early Church bore it for nearly three hun- 
dred years. Even Baird, however, is compelled to admit that what he 
considers justifiable was actually destructive. He goes on to state the 
full consequences of this terrible blunder of his friends, which, never- 
theless, he attempts to justify. He says : 

" The first civil war prevented France from becoming a Huguenot 
country. This was the deliberate conclusion of a Venetian ambassa- 
dor who enjoyed remarkable opportunities for observing the history of 
his times. * The practice of the Christian virtues of patience and sub- 
mission under suffering and insult had made the Reformers an incredible 
number of friends. The waging of war, even in self-defence, and the 
reported acts of wanton destruction, of cruelty and sacrilege, turned 
the indifference of the masses into positive aversion." 

The same evil consequences, only to a far greater extent, followed 
the terrible Thirty Years' War in Germany — probably the most horrible 
civil war that has ever cursed any Christian country. And the same cause 
produced the same effects. It was not because the Reformed had no 
friends among the bishops, but because they were too impatient of per- 
secution to be willing to wait until the Lord's work should be done in 
the Lord's way. And the same impatience led them to overthrow the 
ancient authority of bishops in the Church of God and originate a new 
ministry of their own. 

Now, we have seen, in our own day, though after a much milder 
fashion, the operation of the same general principles. The great Ca- 
thoHc revival of the past half-century is one of the most wonderful that 
the Church has seen in any age or in any land. One great object of it 
was to revive the true doctrine that bishops are in the Church by Divine 
right, and that the powers given to them by Christ and the Holy Ghost 
cannot be taken from them by merely human authority. Yet at the 
beginning, the entire Anglican Episcopate — with much fewer excep- 
tions than we have found in France — was opposed to the Revival. 
Many were discouraged at this, lost heart, and left us. But a little re- 
flection ought to have satisfied them. The primary instinct of the 
Episcopal Order is, and rightly, to hand things down to their succes- 
sors exactly as they themselves received them. When, therefore, after 



Appe7tdix. 291 

the lapse of ages, the Church has gradually accumulated errors in 
various directions, and the spirit of Reform is sent forth by the Holy 
Ghost, that Reform must always expect to find the Episcopate as a 
body opposed to it. 

The bishops, as a body, are rather more elderly men than the aver- 
age of the rest of the clergy. They represent the age that is just 
ending, rather than that which is just beginning. And with their 
primary instinct of keeping things unchanged, they oppose every im- 
provement as an innovation. The feeling of the bishops was almost 
unbroken for a quarter of a century after our Catholic Revival began ; 
and even now, when it is more than half a century old, a faithful and 
devoted priest in Liverpool — Rev. J. Bell-Cox — has lately been sent to 
prison by a bishop — a Low Church bishop, his own bishop — for that 
fidelity to that great Revival ; he being th&pfth priest who has cheer- 
fully gone to jail in the same great cause. In all these fifty years and 
more, all the persecution that could be brought to bear has been borne 
cheerfully, with no attempt to retaliate, or secede, or form a sect, or 
usurp the canonical authority of the bishops. Yet all the while, preach- 
ing and teaching, and writing, and ritual, and organization for work 
among the poor, and the revival of the religious orders, and much 
more, have gone on with unflinching energy and courage, until at 
length we have finally conquered the decided majority of the Anglican 
Episcopate itself. 

And that episcopate is now about as unanimous in commending the 
great Catholic Revival as they were forty years ago in condemning it. 
When one has mastered the theory that the bishops will certainly, at 
least for a generation or two, oppose any and every attempt at Refor- 
mation from within and from below, he will be less likely to lose heart 
and courage when he finds that the theory is borne out by the facts. 
And it is well that it is so. If changes could be brought about too 
easily, we should lose all stability— there would be nothing but change ; 
whereas now, when a change for the better has been slowly and pain- 
fully accomplished, it is a satisfaction to know that it will last. More- 
over, when a movement is really begun by God the Holy Ghost, and is 
carried on with equal courage and patience, there is no danger that 
any opposition by the bishops of the day will ever be able to put it 
down, no matter how hard they may try. In a generation or two, the 
Reform will be represented and maintained by the bishops themselves. 
Let patience, therefore, have her perfect work. With heavenly patience 
the new life is like leaven, that spreads its influence from soul to soul, 
untH the whole Church is leavened. With impatience and civil war, 
that new life becomes rather like the destructive forces of Nature, by 
which the solid mountain is rent into two opposing cliffs, which frown 
defiance on each other forever, and unite no more. 

III. I have left myself but little time for the Thii'd Point, which is 
not so closely connected with the other two, but which, I hope, may be 
helpful to some minds. When a steel bar, freely suspended, is rubbed 
so as to develop positive electricity at one end, it is always found that 



292 A Champion of tJie Cross. 

the same action has at the same time spontaneously developed an equal 
amount of negative electricity at the other end. The amount of elec- 
tricity produced may thus be tested, with equal correctness, from the 
negative end as well as from the positive. 

Now, this third point is simply to compare the great communions of 
Christendom by their faibcres. We are all familiar with the positive 
comparisons — so familiar that sometimes the very familiarity makes us 
suspect that there must be some undiscovered fallacy about them. Let 
us, then, try the negative for once. 

But, you may say, what do you mean by the negative .'* I will 
explain. Let us look at the three great communions of Christendom 
— the Roman, the Oriental, and the Anglican. So long as we are 
divided no one of us has any authority from God to claim that we are 
oitirely right in all points of difference, and that the others are entirely 
wrong. We must be, all of us, right in some things, and wrong in 
other things. And in so far as we are wrong, we shall have our 
faihires, as well as our successes. Now, I propose to compare our 
failures. And — as one ought to do — let us begin with ourselves. 

Our failures, then, may briefly be described as the English-speaking 
Protestant denominations, so far as they have sprung out of the English 
Church. As for those which have sprung directly from the various 
Reformed bodies on the Continent of Europe, of course the Church of 
England is not responsible for them. All these denominations are 
without the historic episcopate ; and this points to a great fault in the 
English Church, largely owing — as are most of her faults — to her 
union with the State. At the time of the Reformation, Cranmer 
earnestly desired to increase the number of episcopal sees in England 
from twenty-three to forty; and King Henry VI IL gave him reason to 
hope that it should be done with endowments from the Church prop- 
erty seized by the crown. But, instead of that, only six new sees were 
erected — one of which soon ceased to exist, and there the increase 
stuck for three hundred years. If that proposed enlargement had been 
made, it is highly probable that dissent from the Church of England 
would never have amounted to much. But when — with the steadily 
growing population — there was no growth in the episcopate; when 
the time and attention of bishops were largely absorbed by their duties 
in Parliament ; when their spiritual duties were more and more neg- 
lected, visitations being made only once in from three to seven years, 
and in some cases not at all ; what could be expected but that a type 
of earnest piety should largely prevail from which bishops were entirely 
left out } 

Then again, in her catechism, the Church of England has taught 
nothing about Confirmation or Holy Orders, or of the organization of 
the Catholic Church, not one word/ What wonder then that some of 
her people should easily come to think that Confirmation is of no great 
use, and that one kind of minister of the Gospel is as good as another, 
and that any and every kind of sect is a Church ? Other faults might 
be mentioned also, especially the suspension of the synodical action of 
the Church for nearly one hundred and fifty years. But no matter 



Appendix. 293 

how great the evils of these divisions and losses, with all their contro- 
versies and jealousies, thus much must be allowed : On the whole, 
and with few exceptions, these denominations all accept the Bible, and 
use it in the version given them by the Church ; they all profess to 
accept the Apostles' and the Nicene creeds ; they all claim to keep up 
the ministration of the two great Sacraments ; their baptism is almost 
universally a valid baptism ; they are earnest and zealous in a great 
variety of good works, and not infrequently in liberality and zeal they 
set us an example which we should do well to follow. They are, on 
the whole, a very respectable set of failures. And the separation from 
us is not so wide or so deep as in any other of the cases which we shall 
mention ; while the general confession of the evil of disunion is more 
outspoken and sincere, and the prospect of reunion far more promising 
than we shall find anywhere else in Christendom. 

Let us look next at the Oriental Church. Her great failure is Mo- 
hammedanism — a far worse and more destructive failure than ours; 
for Mohammedanism is rather a heresy arising out of Christianity than 
an original and separate religion. It includes a recognition of both 
the Old and New Testaments — of Abraham and Moses and Christ. 
The faults that provoked this terrible reaction were rather the faults of 
the decaying and slavish absolutism of the old pagan Roman empire, 
which Christianity could not save ; together with picture worship and 
saint worship which grew naturally out of the other, aggravated by the 
irrepressible dialectics of the Greek mind in defining and over-defining 
the nature and relations of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity. Mo- 
hammed threw off Christian baptism, and retained the old circumcision. 
He made one clean sweep of the Trinity and of the Incarnation. He 
made God to be a simple unit, and himself to be God's greatest and 
final prophet, and the sword to be the chief propagator of his religion. 
The later organization of the Janissaries is a horrible travesty, worthy 
of the Devil himself. The Turks levied a tribute on Christians of 
children — baptized Christian childr en — who were violently taken from 
their parents before they were old enough to understand the truths of 
Christianity, and were then carefully trained up as Moslems, and were 
sworn to fight — as their life-work — that very religion into which they 
had been baptized in infancy. No wonder that such a weapon became 
ultimately intolerable even to the Sultan who wielded it ! There can 
be no question that Mohammedanism — the great failure of the Oriental 
Church — is incomparably worse than ours. 

But the Church of Rome affords a failure far beyond either of us. 
As she has carried her practical corruptions, her additions to the Faith, 
and her passion for absolutism, both in Church and State, to such tre- 
mendous lengths, so in the intensity of atheistical continental com- 
munism she has developed a failure incomparably worse than even 
Mohammedanism, and beside which our Evangelical Protestant de- 
nominations appear like positive blessings ! The horrors of the first 
French revolution .were bad enough. The Commune of Paris has 
shown that it would improve on the old horrors, with greater ones of 
modern invention, the moment it should have a chance. The intense 



294 A Champion of the Cross. 

hatred of anything like Christianity, or even of a belief in God, is start- 
ling. Only think what the condition of a man's mind must be who de- 
liberately shoots dead a priest who w^as standing at the altar and recit- 
ing the Apostles' Creed — his only motive being hatred of the Creed 
which the priest was reciting ! Roman repression has been manufact- 
uring the concentrated oil of vitriol which threatens to destroy every- 
thing that it can get a chance to touch. 

The comparison of our failures, then, while it ought to teach an An- 
glican modesty, and deep sense of our own shortcomings, has in it also 
an element of comfort and encouragement. We have not been so long 
on the wrong course, and have not driven our errors so deep, and have 
not brought forth such desperate results as the others ; and therefore, 
as to w^hat we still have to do, we may well " thank God and take cour- 
age." 



DECLINE AND FALL OF THE LOW-CHURCH PARTY. 

(From " The Church and the World " for April and July, 1872.) 

To one who looks at the present state of parties among us, and com- 
pares it with that which existed from thirty to fifty years ago, the 
change is wonderfully striking, and that in a twofold point of view. 
The personal alienation and bitterness are now incomparably less than 
they were then ; while, nevertheless, the points now at issue are so 
much further advanced, and of so much more importance in themselves, 
that one would naturally expect greater heat and violence, rather than 
less. And this singular decrease in real bitterness has taken place in 
spite of the efforts of the losing party to work themselves up into hos- 
tile zeal by using the most extravagant phraseology. To read their 
writings one would think that something terrible is going to happen ; 
so terrible, indeed, as utterly to frighten them out of the proprieties of 
speech; but when one meets them personally, one finds that these 
truculent writers are as pleasant and amiable a set of gentlemen as one 
could well meet upon a summer's day. The formidable phrases, used 
by them so freely in type, would seem really to be " all sound and fury, 
signifying — nothing." Yet they do not signify nothing. 

There is no need that we should be unjust toward the Low-Church 
or "Evangelical" party. The true Catholic, above all other men, 
knows that every great aberration from truth and right within the 
Church contains a lesson which needs to be learned by heart, if similar 
evils are to be avoided in time to come ; and still more, if those which 
exist are ever to be removed. But as there is an unbroken continuity in 
the history of the Church, each period bringing to maturity the seeds that 
were sown in the period preceding, so it is very hard to give a satis- 
factory review of the present condition of Church parties, from the dif- 
ficulty of knowing where to begin. 

The heart of Christianity as a power in the world — we do not mean 
the head work, which may be called theology ; or the bony framework, 
which may be called the Apostolic hierarchy ; or the flesh, which may 
be looked on as the general body of the laity brought in contact with 
the world ; or " the blood thereof which is the life thereof," which is, 
of course, the grace of God ; or the locomotive power, which is the 
missionary system ; but we mean simply the heart, that impulse of tuiU 
which is felt consciously or unconsciously by every fibre of the whole 
wondrous structure- : and this heart of Christianity, as a power in the 
world, has always been its Asceticism. The kingdom of God has not 
moved onward in this world by means of those whose grosser natures 



296 A CJiampion of the Cross. 

are satisfied with just so much of religion as may be enough to save 
their own individual souls, and who care for nothing beyond this, 
which they regard as the prime and sole necessity ; for these selfish 
creatures can give no impulse to anything, except such as can be 
gained, by accomplished tacticians, from the skilful manipulation of 
mere dead w^eight. Christianity has grown by means of those who 
were capable of rising above what is the minimum for personal salva- 
tion ; who kindle with the love of Christ, until they yearn to show 
their love to Him in the utmost of labor and self-sacrifice of which poor 
human nature is capable. And this is what we here call Asceticism. 
A deep, all-penetrating sense of personal religion as a peculiar relation- 
ship existing immediately between Christ and the redeemed and loving 
soul, and stimulating that soul, as its chief joy, to do " all for Christ," 
is the root-principle of Asceticism. One such soul can give more of 
power to Christianity than countless swarms of those who are con- 
tent with merely saving their own souls, and beyond that make no 
further change in their previous relations to the world, the flesh, or the 
devil. 

During the early ages of persecution, the whole body of the Church 
might well have been regarded as Ascetics ; for even to profess as 
much faith in Christ as was necessary for the saving of one's own soul, 
was then worth a man's life, to say nothing of the chances of torture 
besides. As might be expected, the irresistible impulse of onward 
growth was great in proportion to this universal Asceticism ; and 
during the first three hundred years the Cross conquered the empire of 
the Csesars, and vast regions beyond its bounds. After the conversion 
of Constantine, when the world invaded the Church, Asceticism took 
refuge in the deserts, and soon — under the changed circumstances of 
the contest^the Monastic system embodied and organized the Ascetic 
principle, and was the life-essence of that tremendous struggle for the 
Faith, whose formal victories were registered, for all time, in the 
decrees of the General Councils. The monasteries, too, bore the chief 
brunt of the fight in conquering and civilizing the swarms of Northern 
barbarians, whose fresh forces, thus early Christianized, alone rendered 
it possible that the rottenness of Roman civilization should be changed 
into the actualities of modern Europe. They alone preserved the 
treasures of learning through ages of darkness. They alone contended 
with the kings and princes of the earth, and by their indomitable cour- 
age and pertinacity during ages of union between Church and State, 
prevented that union from rendering the Church the mere tool of 
secular statesmen, or the pasture-ground for the hungry cattle that are 
the curse of kings' courts. In their splendid success lay their greatest 
snare. Order after order rose by heroic self-sacrifice, and made itself 
a power in Christendom, soon to become rich in worldly wealth, and 
to find its early zeal smothered in the abundance of the good things of 
earth which that zeal had drawn forth as a spontaneous harvest from 
the hearts of the men of the world. The salt had at length lost its 
savor, and was cast out, and trodden under foot of men. 

Another sort of Asceticism then brpke forth, which undertook to en- 



Appendix. 297 

force the three vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience after a new 
fashion. The Poverty was made to apply to the service of God, which 
w^as stripped down to the utmost possible bareness. The Chastity was 
interpreted to mean that it was the duty of all men, especially the 
clergy of the three Sacred Orders, to marry as many wives in succession 
as they had the chance. And the Obedience meant, that all men must be 
compelled to obey the saints ; these new-fashioned Ascetics being the 
saints, the true Israel, unto whom — and unto whom alone — the Script- 
ure promises were made ; while all other kinds of Christians were re- 
garded as Moabites, Amalekites, Babylonians, or some other variety of 
Biblical heathen. The full triumph of this kind of Asceticism during 
the Great Rebellion proved it to be more intolerable than ever the old 
sort was, and the demonstration was made in fewer years than the 
other took centuries ; so that, on the restoration of the Stuarts, the 
people w^ere glad to get free from it by throwing off almost all sem- 
blance of seriousness in religion. Asceticism of every kind being dis- 
pensed with, worldliness in living and latitudinarianism in belief be- 
came more and more general. The heart of the Christianity of the 
land was being eaten out, until the eighteenth century made it doubt- 
ful whether religion were not about to disappear of the dry rot. And 
from this fearfully low tone the Roman Communion, and the Oriental 
also, from various causes, suffered quite as extensively as the Anglican, 
and in some respects more so. 

With the appearance of Methodism things began to mend in Eng- 
land ; and the essence of the improvement was in the reappearance of 
a real Asceticism, such as the origin of Methodism indisputably was. 
A deep, all-mastering sense of personal religion lay at the root of it, 
and a burning love for Christ, which could not be satisfied with merely 
getting religion enough to save one's own soul, but which overflowed 
with irresistible yearning to do something for Christ in gratitude for 
His great gift to us, and found the noblest field of action in carrying 
the glorious gift of the saving Gospel to others. The previous dead- 
ness, w^hile the population was still increasing, had left a steadily accu- 
mulating mass of ignorance, carelessness, and vice, which was rapidly 
gaining upon a Church whose vitality was failing because her Asceti- 
cism was gone. The Reformation destroyed many churches, and built 
none. It wonderfully diminished the numbers of the clergy. The 
Great Rebellion carried the work of destruction still further. Those 
were the years during which, as Dr. South said, one might as soon 
have expected stones to be made into bread, as into churches. Meth- 
odism believed in poverty, in so far, at least, that its chief field of labor 
was among the poor and neglected, and its manner of living was such 
as characterized the lower classes. In the qualifications of its minis- 
ters or preachers, in the style of its humble chapels and class-rooms, 
in its open-air services and camp-meetings, its desire to accommodate 
and benefit the poor was made palpable to a Church which had neg- 
lected the poor ; and the original intention was, that it should be a 
religious order within the Church. As to Obedience, Methodism ex- 
acted a compliance with rules of enforced confession, of attendance on 



298 A Champion of the Cross. 

class-meetings and frequent services, of plainness of apparel, and of 
abstinence from dancing, theatre-going, and other social enjoyments, 
all of which savored strongly of the sternness of self-sacrifice under the 
old monastic system. Touching Chastity, however, Methodism had 
nothing to say beyond the current principle and practice of all true 
Protestantism — to wit, that it is every man's and every woman's right, 
if not duty, to be as much and as often married as the civil law will 
allow. 

The cr}'ing need of the Methodist movement, the portion of Asceti- 
cism which gave it the real power which it possessed, and the unfort- 
unate infirmities of temper and blindness which produced the gradual 
alienation of Methodists from a worldly and latitudinarian Church, re- 
sulted at length in the formation of a somewhat similar party within 
her pale, the Evangelical party, as it delights to call itself. In essential 
principle it was the same as the Methodist movement, though in inten- 
sity, organization, and power it was far weaker. Being a portion of 
the National Church, it had only the loose organization of a party, not 
the close and powerful organization of a religious order. Obedience, 
therefore, which meant something real among the Methodists, meant 
little or nothing among the Evangelicals in the Church. As to Poverty, 
the chief field of the Evangelicals was among the upper and middle 
classes of society, and very little among the really poor. They did not 
enforce confession as boldly as the Methodists did in their class-meet- 
ings, and thus were, in one source of moral and spiritual strength, in- 
ferior. Plainness of apparel, and abstinence from social pleasures, 
were enforced much more feebly than among the Methodists, partly 
because of the presence of a large aristocratic and cultivated element 
among the Church Evangelicals, and partly because the practical vigor 
of Methodist discipline was wanting. But the fundamental idea of 
personal self-consecration was there ; of personal love to the Lord 
Jesus, nourished by more frequent services than once a week, over- 
flowing in constant acts of love, and deriving reality from more or less 
of honest self-sacrifice and laborious self-denial, to say nothing of rich 
gifts to the treasury of the Lord. It was the first stage of revival, 
within the Church, from the deadness of the eighteenth century, and as 
such, did a noble and good work. 

But in proportion to the earnestness and depth of conviction with 
which the Evangelicals were animated, was their hatred of all who 
opposed them. This was intensified by their narrowness. They were 
narrow theologically ; for, while grasping strongly the essentials of per- 
sonal religion and personal devotion to Christ, they ignored to a great 
degree the Church and the sacraments. Wesley tried hard to preserve 
the reverence due to both ; but he failed ; and the Evangelicals sympa- 
thized heartily in the failure. They were narrow intellectually ; for no 
branch of culture was regarded with sympathy outside of their own 
range of revival reading. The architecture of an old-fashioned Metho- 
dist Bethel, and the music of a camp-meeting tune, fairly represented 
the degree to which the Wesleyans had made the arts the handmaids 
of religion : and the Church Evangelicals had even less originality than 



Appe7idix. 299 

that. They were narrow socially; for, in the Church of England, the 
Evangelicals were a close clique, with just enough of tantalizing affilia- 
tion with the aristocratic classes to prevent any extensive work among 
the poor. All this narrowness, combined with their thorough-going 
earnestness and intensity, made them bitter and denunciatory to a re- 
markable degree. All who did not pronounce their shibboleth w^th pre- 
cisely their strength of aspiration, were unhesitatingly declared to be 
" destitute of vital piety," by which they evidently meant, were sure of 
eternal damnation ; for they were positively certain that nobody could 
be saved unless his piety was " vital," as they understood it. 

They did, as we have said, a noble and good work notwithstanding. 
Religion was, with them, the one overmastering consideration, in com- 
parison of which all else was as nothing. Their warm love for Christ 
led to vigorous action, in certain directions (whether it was always 
wise, is another matter). The rapid and steady growth of the Bible 
Society was largely due to their anxiety to diffuse the knowledge of the 
Word of God. The Church Missionary Society testified to their zeal 
for Foreign Missions. Their Sunday-schools were a means of great 
good at home. Their desire to affiliate — on the platform at least — 
with Evangelical Dissenters was, in reality, a groping for some sort of 
Catholicity, a confession that the entire and voluntary isolation of any 
small section of the believers in Christ is a self-condemnation in the 
sight of Him who prayed so earnestly that all His disciples might be 
One. They revived the idea of Asceticism in several important re- 
spects, though hating the word itself as being pure " Popery." Their 
week-day devotional meetings were a half-way house toward the res- 
toration of daily prayer. Their hymns were one of the best parts of 
their service to the Church. Glowing with real fervor, these hymns 
were the first that had popular strength enough to break the frozen 
uniformity of Tate and Brady. The Evangelicals fought for, and 
maintained triumphantly, the liberty to sing hymns, without first wait- 
ing for the approval of either Church or State ; and, outside of the reg- 
ular services appointed in the Prayer-book, they similarly demonstrated, 
in their prayer-meetings, the existence of a liberty which has since 
been put to good use by the Catholics. Certainly in these two points 
— hymns and extra services — the Evangelicals have earned a right to 
our grateful remembrance, which we shall always be prompt to ac- 
knowledge. We assure them that the liberty which they thus proved 
to exist, they now can never take away, no matter how much they may 
desire it. 

Let us next turn our attention to the Church in the United States. 

At the time of our first organization after the Revolutionary War, 
we had inherited mainly the lowest type of eighteenth century Church- 
and-State religion, which was found in nearly every part of the country 
where the Church was known at all, outside of New England. In Con- 
necticut, having from the first been free from the curse of governmental 
protection, and born and nourished in the wholesome air of persecu- 
tion, her distinctive principles were forced sharply to the front, and 
were sufficiently well believed in to be valiantly fought for against all 



300 A Champion of tJie Cross. 

assailants. It was to this part of our Church that we owe. possibly, 
the procuring an Episcopate at all ; certainly the changes in the Euchar- 
istic office of our Church which make it so vastly superior to that of 
the Church of England. But everywhere else there was barely enough 
of Churchmanship to say that life was left. What shall be said of the 
" Catholicity " of the Churchmen of South Carolina, who only consented 
to come into union with the General Convention on the express under- 
standing that no bishop should ever be sent into that State ? What 
shall we say of that in Virginia, where even the bishop, for many years 
after the Episcopate was obtained, despaired of the revival of the 
Church, and where the number of our clergy even now is hardly as 
great as it was before the Revolutionary War broke out ? On that soil 
where the State Legislature had, by law, fixed the salaries of the clergy 
at so many pounds of tobacco /<?r ajinum, and made the amount col- 
lectable by the sheriff out of each planter's crop, one may safely say 
that the Divine Source of the spiritual power of the Church was very 
likely to be lost sight of. Especially was this the case when for an 
hundred and fifty years there had been the constant effort to erect an 
established Church in these several Colonies, which should be an Epis- 
copal Church ; ^^et in all that time no bishop had ever been seen or 
appointed, no confirmation, ordination, or consecration had ever been 
actually witnessed anywhere in the land, and no discipline could be 
executed anywhere according to any practical system of canonical law. 
That the Church, thus deprived of the presence of her vital Order, and 
of all the organic offices of her hierarchy, loaded with the obloquy of 
scandals which she was not allowed power to correct, burdened with 
all the odium of legal connection with a civil government which was 
becoming constantly more odious to the people, and finally identified, 
during the Revolutionary struggle, with Toryism and allegiance to 
King George, and a supposed longing for the restoration of monarchical 
government ; that a Church with all this to contend against, and well 
plundered of most of her glebe lands and churches besides, with her 
clerg^^ almost annihilated, and her people — never well grounded in 
Church principles at all — scattered away like chaff before the wind ; 
that a Church like this, popularly supposed to be only an " Act-of- 
Parliament Church " anyhow, should even be able to live, in the midst 
of the thriving and popular sects that rejoiced in the perfect triumph of 
religious liberty, was wonder enough. Nothing short of the power 
of God could have made it take root and grow as it has done. 

And it was, for a while, a bare continuance of life — nothing more. 
The Apostolic Order — without which there can be no Church in the 
sense of the Catholic Creed — was happily secured to our Church of 
America, but it was at a time when, if left to herself, her theological 
tone was so low that she would have thrown the Catholic Creed itself 
overboard without a struggle or a regret. It was, however, the lati- 
tudinarianism of profound indifference, not of actual heresy ; and when 
it was found that the Nicene Creed must be restored, or the Episcopate 
could not be had, it was restored promptly, without objection and with- 
out qualification, emasculation, or amendment, just as it stood in the 



Appendix. 30 1 

Prayer-book of the Church of England. At first there was m this 
country a general consent that bishops might be tried, sentenced, and 
punished by their own clergy and laity in Convention assembled, and 
should not ha'^e any separate voice in the legislation of the Church. 
The infusion of high sacramental doctrine ffom the pressure of Bishop 
Seabury and the Connecticut Churchmen, would certainly have been de- 
feated but for a degree of doctrinal deadness which prevented the pos- 
sibility of a correct estimate by the majority of its importance ; and 
this was aided by a practical indifference to the Communion office, 
which was then used only three or four times a year at most. Before 
there was a thorough awaking from this lethargy, the Institution office 
had happily been also secured — another treasure, due, like the former, 
to the Churchmanship of Connecticut. 

It was mainly through that portion of the Church which had been 
strongly tinged wdth Toryism, that Church life and spirit were preserved 
in such wise as to render a revival possible, and this was, for a time, an 
obstacle difficult to overcome. Bishop Provoost was a Whig, and a lati- 
tudinarian, who hated the Tory Bishop Seabury very cordially. Bishop 
White, though not a latitudinarian, was yet, on some points, what used 
to be called a Low Churchman in England fifty years before ; and never 
could see that the principles of his famous pamphlet " The Case of the 
Episcopal Churches Considered " — in which he proposed to resort to 
ordination by presbyters in case bishops could not be had — were un- 
tenable and intolerable. Bishop Madison was President of William and 
Mary College, and, as nearly as possible, nothing else.* All these were 
gentlemen of the old school, and as free as possible from any tinge of 
Methodism, or enthusiastic fervor, or " Evangelicalism," in the party 
sense of the word. They regarded it with hearty opposition. The 
venerable Bishop White — who was the least remote from it, and who 
was commonly so modest and careful and gentle in the expression of his 
opinions — never minced matters when on that subject ; and even when 
he was an octogenarian, on hearing a speaker in his Diocesan Conven- 
tion claim that " their bishop was a Low Churchman," he repudiated it 
with unwonted energy. " As the word is understood among us now in 
this country," said the old man, "you might as well call me a Turk or 
a Jew ! " On the other hand, Bishop Seabury, who had been a Tory, 
was the chief means of preserving our Catholicity. Bishop Moore, who 
had been a Tory, laid the foundation of that Churchliness in New York 
on which Bishop Hobart was afterward to build so splendidly. And 
in the pamphlet warfare which accompanied the revival of true Church 
principles among us, the political or Tory phase of the question was 
from the first thrust strongly into the foreground by its opponents. 

For some years after the completion of our organization under the 
" Constitution " there was no marked manifestation of party, as we un- 
derstand the term now. Things were as yet too nearly dead to permit 

* For seven years, from 1805 to 1812, no Convention was held in Virginia ; 
and in 1813 the Rev. Mr. Meade thought it would be the last attempt of the 
sort, and that the Church in Virginia was " Lost, lost, lost ! " 



302 A Champion of the Cross. 

anything so much instinct with life as a sharp party warfare. And as 
the progress from half-death to life is slow, so the development of party 
spirit was gradual. At first the only symptoms of the birth of an 
" Evangelical " spirit were to be seen in an occasional i>arson who was 
warm with Methodism, either from sympathy or previous personal con- 
nection ; and who manifested his fondness in a way not specially sug- 
gestive of a familiarity with Church principles or the Canons. They 
had personal fer\'or, however, a thing which it was almost impossible 
to discover in the public ser^'ices of their brethren as then generally 
conducted. With no singing of the Canticles, no responses except by 
the clerk, no hymns except for a few festivals and special occasions, no 
psalmody but Tate and Brady, no baptisms except in private, and no 
Holy Communion except three or four times in the year, there was 
really a great work for the Evangelical party to do. And under its 
vigor the Church of America soon began to wake up. But the weak- 
ness of the party at the first may be gathered from the words spoken 
by Bishop Mcllvaine at an annual meeting of the Evangelical Knowl- 
edge Society, that " he recalled the General Convention held when he 
was a candidate for orders. Key was the only one who was allowed 
to stand up in defence of Evangelical truth. Three clergymen, with 
the chairman, constituted the whole Evangelical force in the Lower 
House." 

It was not long after this, however, that their strength was greatly 
increased. In Virginia, the fervor, moral courage, self-sacrifice, and 
high social position of the Rev. Mr. Meade were the chief means of 
bringing to the Church in that State a sort of resurrection from the 
dead. Wherever he went, his preaching drew crowds ; and his depth 
of earnestness, his graceful gesture, and his voice of winning sweet- 
ness, gave him everpvhere a remarkable success in attracting ardent 
souls to the fold of Christ. In Pennsylvania, under Boyd, Bedell, and 
Bull, the Evangelical party rushed up into rapid life and strength ; and, 
in the important matter of electing an assistant and successor to their 
venerable bishop, they came within one vote of snatching the victory 
from the friends of Bishop White, and making Mr. Meade eventually 
the Bishop of Pennsylvania. The Recorder had been previously 
started by them, and became an important means of extending their 
affiliations all over the country. The establishment of the Alexandria 
Seminar}^ gave them a theological training-school entirely under their 
own control, and insured them a certain advantage all over the South. 
The wonderful success of Bishop Philander Chase, and the unfortunate 
complications which embroiled him with Bishop Hobart, threw all the 
prestige of his work into the hands of the Evangelicals, and seemed to 
promise them entire possession of the West. The mild influence of 
Bishop Griswold, with full opportunity to mould the infancy of five 
dioceses, rendered it apparently certain that Evangelicalism would rule 
all New England outside of Connecticut. Maryland was half theirs 
already, as was Pennsylvania. In all the horizon there was nothing 
clearly outside of their speedy grasp except New York, Connecticut, 
New Jersey, and North Carolina. 



Appendix. 303 

We have alluded to the element of fervid Asceticism which was the 
one essential of true religious life in the Evangelical party. Its narrow- 
ness, its sad lack of theology, of Catholicity, and of knowledge of 
human nature, its utter ignorance both of its own true place and work, 
and of the relation in which they stood to the world, caused it to excel, 
in bitterness of feeling and expression, every party yet known among 
us. Every strong development of religious love must indeed have, 
commonly speaking, its special development of antipathy. "Do not I 
hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee ? " is ever prominent in its feelings. 
Now, the Evangelical party was so situated as to be endowed with 
a double portion of this antipathy. The eighteenth century coldness 
was regarded by it as a condition, not of diminished or suspended ani- 
mation, but of absolute death. It was a very dull and quiet kind of 
Christianity, indeed; very undemonstrative, and not at all aggressive; 
but the Evangelicals were sure that it was " deadly," that it was "not 
vital piety," that it was totally destitute of " the life and power of the 
Gospel." It was a " preaching of mere morality," without any of the 
savor of "the doctrines of grace." It was hated cordially, therefore, 
as being mere latitudinarianism, Pelagianism, naturalism, and therefore 
" another gospel," deserving all the anathemas that S. Paul could 
utter. This was the phase of hatred that resulted naturally from the 
dull era, against which their revival was originally directed. 

But side by side with their movement against dulness and deadness, 
there was, as we have seen, a revival of true Catholicity beginning to 
make itself felt. The Churchliness which was first manifested from 
Connecticut, and soon after began to flourish in New York, was quite 
as genuine a revival as the other, and — to say the least — quite as much 
needed. Its love, for a time, may not have been quite so fervid ; but 
its culture was broader and deeper. It had some theology. It had a 
firm grasp of fundamental Church principles, and would by no means 
let them go. This drew upon it the other part of the Evangelicals' 
double capacity for hating. Every Church principle which the Evan- 
gelicals themselves ignored, was by them dubbed " Popery ; " or, if the 
Popery of it could not be made manifest to any reasonable understand- 
ing, then it was more conveniently, and even more unanswerably, 
labelled " Popery in disguise." That nobody besides themselves could 
see it, was only an additional proof of the Jesuitical art with which it 
was " disguised." 

And perhaps here is as convenient a place as any to point out some 
of the essential weaknesses which, from the first, rendered the decay 
of the Evangelical party in the Church of America only a question of 
time. Their fundamental points of opinion were all either unchurchly 
or positively anti-Church. In England, where the union of Church 
and State exists, and the higher Church preferments are in the gift of 
the State, it is of the highest convenience to statesmen to encourage 
the existence, within the Church, of that party which does not really 
believe in the Church to which it professes to belong ; for by nominat- 
ing such men to high office in the Church itself, they render it morally 
certain that, in case of a contest between Church and State, the natural 



304 A CJiainpion of the Cross. 

leaders of the Church will be mortgaged in advance to support the 
supremacy of the State, or the " Royal Supremacy," as they call it 
there. Nominees to office in the Church who have no serious religious 
differences with Dissenters, will always be more popular with the nation 
at large when nearly, if not quite, one-half of the people call themselves 
Dissenters — a condition of things which no wise statesman or shrewd 
politician can afford to ignore in making his appointments to high 
office in the National Church. It is precisely this which led to the ap- 
pointment of Dr. Tait as Archbishop of Canterbury, by a government 
which professed to be the peculiar champion of the rights of the 
Church. Hence the necessity for such a class of Churchmen ; and 
hence, too, the certainty that a considerable portion of them will receive 
high promotion so long as the union between Church and State con- 
tinues, no matter how small their numerical following may be among 
the clerg}' and laity. 

The common ground between Erastianism and Dissent is this : The 
Erastian does not believe in the distinctive principles of the Church — 
does not believe that she has any spiritual powers which man can 
neither give nor take away ; for if so, it would be possible that the 
Church might be right in a contest with the State, which contradicts 
the fundamental principle of Erastianism. The Erastian believes it his 
bounden duty to obey the command, " Render to Cassar the things 
that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." But he un- 
derstands it in a peculiar fashion. As Caesar is mentioned first in the 
above formula, Caesar of course is entitled to the precedence in every 
case of conflicting claims. And if this will not do, then it is remem- 
bered that " the whole heavens are the Lord's ; the earth hath he given 
to the children of men " — that is, to Caesar. Therefore, so long as we 
are on the " earth," the will of Caesar must be supreme : and in Eng- 
land the will of the people comes sooner or later to be the will of 
Caesar. The Dissenter also holds that there is nothing in the distinc- 
tive principles of the Church which is obligatory, provided the will of 
the people happens to be the other way. Only he does not wait for 
the formal parliamentary expression of the will of the people as a 
nation ; any respectable portion of the people satisfies him, in regard 
to matters which, as he agrees with the Erastian, do not exist by a 
spiritual authority which is divine. Hence, in England, there has al- 
ways been a strong religious affinity between the Low Churchmen 
in the Establishment and the Dissenters outside ; and this sympathy 
is one main element of the political advantages of promoting Eras- 
tians in the Church. But when the high places of the Church are thus 
filled — when the chief rulers of the Church are promoted because they 
do not hold her principles, but sympathize with those whose proper 
place is outside of the fold — we can understand what was the condi- 
tion of the people of God when Herod, the Edomite, was king at 
Jerusalem. It was while Herod was king that Christ was born at 
Bethlehem. It may be that a similar triumph of the Church's enemies 
within the Church herself may mark the nearness of the time of His 
second coming. 



Appendix. 305 

In this country, however, the elements of the problem are very dif- 
ferent. Here there is no union between Church and State. Except 
some coquetting of politicians with the Church of Rome, there is noth- 
ing to be gained politically by affiliation with any body of Christians, 
much less with any one communion in preference to others. The State, 
as such, has no voice whatever in electing the rulers of the Church. No 
laymen even have any voice therein, unless they belong to some parish 
of the Church, and have made themselves sufficiently prominent in 
Church work to secure their election as delegates in the Diocesan Con- 
vention, or as diocesan deputies to the General Convention. The chief 
circumstance, therefore, which makes Erastianism powerful in the 
Church of England renders it impossible in the Church of America. 
The principle of Erastianism — which is the entire supremacy, in every- 
thing, of the lay power in its organized form of civil government — can- 
not, indeed, exist among us, except in so dwarfed and mutilated a 
form as deprives it of all real power for harm. As having any direct 
reference among us to the civil government, it has simply disappeared 
entirely. In its lower and weaker form — that of an appealing to 
the laity, or looking to the laity as a power to overrule the bishops 
and the clergy — it is incapable of much mischief, even in the most ex- 
cited times. For, though no change in Church laws can be made 
without the consent of the laity, the laity can make no change without 
the separate consent of both bishops and clergy. That the laity can 
withhold the support of the bishops and clergy, in order to compel 
their compliance, is but partially possible in the abstract ; and it is so 
generally impracticable in the concrete, that it may be safely disre- 
garded. The threat has never yet been made on any scale worth 
notice ; and it will be made many times before Churchmen will conquer 
their repugnance to the baseness of carrying it into execution. On the 
other hand, no lay delegation can be sent to the Diocesan Convention 
without good chance of clerical influence in making the election, and 
constant conference and co-operation with the clergy during the ses- 
sions, both orders debating in one body. As the clergy must gener- 
ally be far more familiar than the laity with the subjects under discus- 
sion, the representation of the laity in our Church councils is chiefly 
valuable as giving an excellent opportunity for the clergy to educate 
the leaders of the laity in many important matters not properly em- 
braced in sermons or homilies, and also as preventing the possibility of 
any serious jealousy ever arising between the clergy and laity as dis- 
tinct orders, both having given free assent to all the laws of the Church, 
and to all changes made therein. 

But it will be seen at once that the motives which lead to the elec- 
tion of our lay delegates are totally different from those which lead to 
making a man prime minister in Great Britain. The lay delegate serves 
at his own expense. He has no earthly object to gain in serving at all, 
and nothing to lose by staying away. Indifference to Church princi- 
ples will rather make a man prefer not to be elected, or will induce 
him, if elected, to find it personally inconvenient to attend. So also 
with the clergy. Where the Church is free, and on a perfect legal 

20 



3o6 A CJiainpion of the Cross. 

equality with all the sects in the land, many of which are more numerous 
and wealthy than she i«, why should any man wish to be a clergy^man 
bearing her commission, unless he really believes in her principles ? 
And even if a few disloyal men should obtain orders, from personal or 
local or temporar)' causes, how can the}' ever rationally expect that the 
ver}' fact of their ostentatious disloyalty should lead to their promotion 
by the free voices of those who do believe in what they profess ? 

The natural force of these plain conditions would seem to lead to the 
simple conclusion that a low-church party — where there is no union of 
Church and State — is an impossibility. And if all men were perfectly 
logical, it would be so. In a free country like this, there is no suffi- 
cient reason for any man's belonging to any Church the principles of 
which he does not believe in. But there are many circumstances which 
have combined to produce and to continue that unchurchly party 
among us, and which will insure its partial existence for a long while 
to come ; but a full consideration of them will show the reasons why 
that party is disappearing more and more from the councils of the 
Church, and why it is certain to grow weaker and weaker so long as it 
continues to exist. 

The originally low and latitudinarian tone of nearly the whole of 
our Church that was left after the Revolution was so deplorable that, 
as we have said, even partisan Evangelical life were a clear gain in 
many respects ; and latitudinarianism had no strength to resist the new 
impulse, unless by partaking of that other and better life — the revival 
of Church principles in their proper fulness and strength. Hence, the 
rapid rise and spread of the Evangelical party. But as the life of the 
Evangelicals was really a reflex within the Church from the greater glow 
without, it was impossible in the nature of things that it should be 
made dominant or permanent in the Church itself, all of whose dis- 
tinctive principles it expressty and ostentatiously ignored. This con- 
sideration alone would have been enough. But there was another 
which also was sure to be fatal of itself, and that was, that the whole 
Evangelical movement rested, both in theory and in fact, on mere indi- 
vidualism. There was no coherence, except such as should be made 
and kept up by an organization within the Church resting on voluntary 
action, and working outside of all her canonical machiner}^ ; whereas 
the other and better revival — recognizing the Church as a visible body, 
and looking upon her canonical machinery as resting on and embodying 
in action her own distinctive principles, which were heartily believed in 
— had the immense advantage of needing no party organization other 
than the canonical machinery of the Church herself. The Church 
party, therefore, labored for general and united action in all things. 
When unable to carry its measures, it did not withdraw and set up an 
opposition affair which it could control by itself, but it waited patiently 
and struggled bravely until better days should come, compromising 
from time to time, until strong enough to do better. The prestige of 
united action in general institutions, which its superior intelligence en- 
abled it to establish before it could be prevented, has, therefore, been 
steadily and increasingly gained by the Church party. 



Appendix. 307 

To pursue this policy was, indeed, logically impossible for the Evan- 
gelicals. Individualism is their root-principle ; and even when they 
have a majority, they are not willing to trust themselves to that ma- 
jority, lest at some day it should fail them, and the mdzvidual should 
find himself bound in some way he should not like. They were there- 
sore compelled to make their sphere of action fractional. They strug- 
gled only fof a part ; while the Church party struggled for the whole. 
As a natural consequence of this, the practical influence of the one has 
been growing wider, and that of the other narrower, all the while. When 
the Church party succeeded in establishing the General Theological 
Seminary under the organic control of the whole Church, the Evangel- 
icals established the Alexandria Seminary, which is not under any such 
organic control; and the Gambler Seminary is equally free from it. 
When the Church party organized the Church Book Society on as gen- 
eral a basis as was in their power, the Evangelicals for a long while 
patronized the American Tract Society's publications, preferring those 
which were totally destitute of all Churchliness of tone, until it was 
found that this was too barefaced an ignoring of their own Church to 
be entirely popular even with their own people. They then organized 
the Evangelical Knowledge Society, in which they could still profess 
allegiance to the " Church of their affections," while ignoring or oppos- 
ing her distinctive principles. Yet, even so, the field of its literary 
exercise has been shrinking to such an extent that a large portion of its 
business has come to be the publishing of cheap editions of that very 
Prayer-Book, which pamphlets published from the same counter declare 
to be full of the germs of Popery. When the Church party succeeded 
in organizing the work of Missions, the Evangelicals — contrary to their 
primary and natural instincts — consented to come in and take part. At 
that time they felt but little interest in the Domestic field. It lacked the 
brilliant glow of romance which lent a glory to the Foreign field. The 
latter, too, was more wholly dependent on that individualism which 
lay at the root of Evangelicalism, and thus enlisted all its sympathies : 
while the Domestic work, entirely free from all that was exciting or im- 
pulsive, depended more for its success upon the quiet and careful use 
of ordinary means, and thus was the first care of the Church party. 
Whether there was at the time any express understanding to that effect, 
or not, it is certain, as a matter of fact, that, from that day to this, the 
Domestic Committee has consisted of a majority of the Church party, 
while the control of the Foreign Committee has been wholly in the 
hands of the Evangelicals, where it still remains. The natural conse- 
quences of this may easily be imagined. As new dioceses have been 
formed in the Missionary regions of the Church, they have almost uni- 
formly come in as staunch members of the Church party : while the 
Foreign field brought no accession of strength to the Evangelicals in 
the General Convention until the late admission of foreign missionary 
bishops to seats in the Upper House! These two votes, however, came 
too late to be of any service, and the presence of bishops from China 
and Africa is too uncertain anyhow to be depended on. 

It was not very long before some of the wiser heads among the 



3o8 A CJimnpion of the Cross. 

Evangelicals began to see that they had made a mistake somewhere, and 
that the West, which had once promised to be theirs in a lump, was now 
looking in another direction. Gambler was managed so ill, and Nasho- 
tah — which had brilliantly outflanked Gambler with regard to the Great 
West — was doing so well that they saw mischief was ahead. The mis- 
sionary bishop system, too, was beginning to show its fruits, as diocese 
after diocese dropped in. But what was to be done ? WHile their own 
friends were in control of one committee of the Board, and fairly rep- 
resented on the other, how could they honorably set up an opposition 
organization in any part of the held .'' But a true Evangelical never yet 
allowed his honor to interfere with either his piety or his party ; and 
the Philadelphia Association of Evangelicals was formed to do work 
which already properly belonged to the Domestic Committee. It was 
not that the Doniestic Committee used its position for High-Church 
party purposes ; but it so happened that the major number of bishops 
who needed missionaries were of the Church party, and the large major- 
ity of clerg}"men available for that work were of the same sort. If a 
majority of the Committee had been Low-Church, the result would 
have been just the same, had they honestly worked under the rules laid 
down by the General Convention for the guidance of the Board. No 
question of party was ever made by that Committee in appointing a 
missionary. The Evangelicals, however, were never willing to do 
Church work after this fashion. A part of their narrowness was in 
their conscience ; and that conscience— so they often said — would not 
allow them to give money where any part of it might possibly be used 
to support men who were not preaching " the gospel " as they under- 
stood it. They were content to take part in nothing which they could 
not control. In the foreign work, as a general rule, they have sent out 
only those who were of their own way of thinking. If any foreign 
missionary was found to be clearly of the other school of theologv', he 
was made to feel so uncomfortable that at length he had to give it up 
and come home. The Philadelphia Association concentrated the feeble 
forces of Evangelicalism in the domestic field so as to make them tell ; 
and thus, by sharp management, they at length contrived to secure two 
new Western dioceses on their first organization — Iowa and Kansas ; 
and they may probably have another in Nevada. But " what are these 
among so many? " 

The animus of the two parties was never more plainly shown than 
in regard to that same Philadelphia Association. The Evangelicals 
were determined to occupy a ground so restricted that a number even 
of their own friends could not unite with them. The Church party, on 
the other hand, though keenly sensible of the unhandsome way in 
which they were treated (and some things were said which had better 
been left unsaid), on the whole, stretched their charity; and, saving 
their principles under a bare formula, made their practical system so 
elastic that the money contributed by Evangelicals could be used for 
Evangelical party work, under the direction of the Philadelphia Asso- 
ciation, while passing nominally through the hands of the Domestic 
Committee, a majority of whom were of the Church party. 



Appendix. 309 

[It would be well if the members of the advanced wing of the High 
Church party now would heed this warning, for there have been de- 
plorable instances of exactly such refusals to work through the consti- 
tuted organs of the Church on the part of members of this party.] 

But even this was found to be too close a connection with the Church 
party to be as effective as the Evangelicals desired ; and the American 
Church Missionary Society, and still later the Evangelical Education 
Society, have yet further carried out the programme of the entire iso- 
lation of the Evangelical element from the other operations of the 
Church. For themselves it is a mistake. It is a confession of helpless, 
hopeless weakness. It is a proclamation to all the world that they 
cannot hold their own on an equal chance ; but must as far as possible 
prevent all practical contact, in order to keep their party from being 
gradually absorbed by that which constitutes the great majority of the 
bishops, clergy, and laity of the Church in America. They still retain 
their old control of the Foreign Committee, though one of their leaders 
made an effort, at the meeting of the Board in 1868, to get rid of that 
also, as the last link that binds them to any general organization for 
practical work. Even in the Evangelical parishes the interest in the 
foreign field had fallen off greatly, as Dr. Cotton Smith then avowed, 
owing to their dislike of being connected in any way with a board 
whose domestic work is not controlled by Evangelicals. That is to 
say, those Evangelicals whose zeal for Christ and the salvation of souls 
started the Africa and the China Missions, and had been so lavish of 
money to sustain them, and had gloried in the self-sacrifice of the mis- 
sionaries who belonged to their own party — those Evangelicals who 
had kindled the zeal of many thousands by the example of their laying 
down their lives so cheerfully in their Master's service, and for the good 
of the poor benighted heathen — those same Evangelicals, had run be- 
hindhand in their contributions more than $32,000, and w^re probably 
willing to starve out their own great work in foreign lands, if by so 
doing they could only insure one more point of total practical alienation 
from their brethren of the Church party at home ! The debate proved, 
however, that all Evangelical men were not yet ready to take this 
melancholy and suicidal position. The attempt at separation has 
never been renewed in the board ; and so the Foreign Committee goes 
on as before. 

Our sketch has shown how the conscious inferiority of strength on 
the part of the Evangelicals has gradually led them to abandon the 
whole sphere of Church work, except where they can exercise entire 
control ; and that is now almost nowhere, except in such voluntary as- 
sociations as they have started, and the basis of which they have made 
narrow enough to insure the exclusion of all others. Indeed, they 
would have worked themselves out to this result mu-ch sooner than 
they did, had it not been for several incidents of notable importance, 
which, for a time, gave them an apparent strength much greater than 
they really possessed. And here we must return once more to the 
most unpleasant part of our duty — the remarking upon the double 
share of bitterness which has characterized the controversial warfare of 



3IO A Champion of the Cross, 

the Evangelicals, As they were sure that their ovm Evangelical plat- 
form was essential to vital piety, and that the piety of all who did not 
stand on it was dead, worthless, and destitute of saving grace ; and as 
the root of all their movement was individualism, so their opponents 
were in like manner individualized. As, on the Evangehcal hypothesis, 
all their opponents were devoid of true religion, so the Evangelicals 
had every reason to believe in the truth of every scandalous story that 
was told or made up against any individual opposed to them. What- 
ever blackened their opponents only proved that those opponents were 
in reality what, if the Evangelical platform were true, they ought to be : 
and, of course, the Evangelical platform was true. This element of 
personal bitterness would have been quite enough of itself ; but it was 
intensified by that combination to which we have previously alluded. 
The contemporaneous revival of a truer Church feeling was regarded 
by the Evangelicals as essentially Popish ; and, since, like all true Prot- 
estants, they hated the Pope even worse than the devil, so this part of 
their antipathy was hotter, more bitter, and more unscrupulous than the 
other. Ever}^ inch of advance in Church doctrine, discipline, worship, 
or usage, has been fought against with the utmost pertinacity ; and no 
pains have ever been spared to create the popular impression that every 
such thing was Popery, even though the perfect model of it could be 
found in the second or third century. In 1814 the chanting of the 
Canticles in morning and evening prayer (they had always been read, 
in this country, down to that time), was denounced as Popery; just as 
the same nickname has been given, with the same propriety, to the re- 
vival of the glorious old Gregorian tones in our own day. Gothic 
architecture, recessed chancels, preaching in the surplice, altar-cloths, 
the daily service, were all Poper}% and " taught transubstantiation," and 
what not. The ceaseless iteration of this stupid cry produced really 
deep and bitter mischief in the earlier part of the movement, because 
then it was believed in ; but now it is beginning to be laughed at. Our 
Evangelical friends have been crying " wolf " so long and so loudly, 
that the sensibility of the longest ears is wearing out. 

But when the war against " Tractarianism " first broke forth, the 
terror was fierce and deep. Tract No, 90 set many people fairly wild. 
In this frame of mind the Carey Ordination produced a genuine _/z/r(9r, 
a fer\'id upboiling of public feeling, in comparison with which all that 
has been said and done about Ritualism is a mere bagatelle. The 
scandals growing out of the cases of the suspension of the bishops of 
Pennsylvania and New York — two great pillars of the Church party — 
gratified both the elements of " good hating " combined in the Evan- 
gelical breast ; and since many who did not belong to the Evangelical 
party acted with them on the issues involved in those cases, it gave them, 
for the time being, the appearance of a great preponderance of power. 
The secession of Dr. Newman and so many other " Puseyites " to the 
Church of Rome was a never-ceasing arsenal of weapons for Evangel- 
ical warfare. It was not taken into consideration that the violence of 
Evangelical abuse and the intolerance of Evangehcal persecution were 
really the causes which drove many of these men out of the Church of 



Appendix. 311 

England : and when they went they were attacked afresh for going. 
The Gorham Judgment was regarded as a great doctrinal triumph for 
the Evangelicals ; but, on careful examination, it was not very comfort- 
ing after all, for it only showed that Gorham might be tolerated, and 
not by any means that his doctrine was the true doctrine of the Church 
of England, However, it produced another batch of secessions to 
Rome, which were fresh elements of strength for the Evangelicals in 
irritating and keeping up popular prejudices and misunderstandings as 
to the real points at issue. 

Meanw^hile, the extraordinary unanimity of the outcry against Tract 
No. 90 was working out a new result. The essence of that famous tract 
consisted in the statement that, in interpreting the Thirty-nine Ar- 
ticles, " we have no duties toward their framers." This was thought 
to interpret those Articles in a " non-natural " sense ; to be " evading, 
not explaining, the Articles ; " and the hubbub raised about " dishon- 
esty," " Jesuitism," and what not, was enough to deafen all other voices, 
and almost to prevent the power of rational thought. But the idea that 
the private views of the Reformers as individuals should rule the inter- 
pretation of formularies which had passed through several revisions 
subsequently (the last being by the Churchly divines of 1662), stirred 
up the spirit of investigation into the real history of the Reformation ; 
and it was found that the popular Protestant traditions of the eighteenth 
century were one thing, and the real opinions of the Reformers in many 
respects a very different thing. The researches among old archives 
and State papers every day brought to light fresh facts in favor of the 
Church party, and damaging to their opponents. Especially in regard 
to the doctrine of the Holy Eucharist was this evidence conclusive. 
The suspension of Dr. Pusey for two years from the University pulpit, 
for preaching the ancient doctrine on this subject, was a challenge 
promptly and victoriously answered ; and, as a natural consequence of 
this victory, the disposition to set forth visibly the substance of sound 
Eucharistic doctrine placed the capstone on the ecclesiological revival, 
which, in the midst of the most vociferous and unscrupulous opposition, 
had steadily gained ground : the altar-cloths and other adornments be- 
gan to be common. The Westerton and Liddell cases— Protestant 
mobs having failed of their object — settled a fact, to the great astonish- 
ment of the Evangelicals, that, as a question of law, the Church party 
stood on such strong ground that they could not be touched by coercive 
process without fresh legislation; and this established the basis on 
which the present so-called Ritualistic movement has grown up. Its 
advocates have claimed, from the first, to be within the plain letter of 
the law ; and in the disgraceful series of prosecutions gotten up and 
pushed through by the Evangelicals against them, the decisions of the 
Judicial Committee are such manifest perversions of law and justice, 
merely in order to gratify Protestant prejudice, that each legal victory 
for them has proved to be a popular defeat. When 5,000 priests 
protest against a decision, the back of the court, as a moral or spiritual 
power, is fairly broken. The Evangelicals have procured a decision 
which makes against the Ritualists in some points ; but it compels the 



312 A ChampioJi of the Cross. 

Low-Church deans to wear copes in their own cathedrals, and by irre- 
sistible implication pronounces that preaching in a black gown is illegal ; 
a result which has all the popular effect of a broad joke at their expense, 
purchased with a hea\y outlay of their own money. The party there 
is dwindling, as it is here, but the causes are in many respects so dif- 
ferent that we must drop that branch of the history altogether, or our 
work will spread beyond our limits.* 

To resume our outline of the decHne of the Low-Church party in 
this country : We must remember that the essential principle under- 
lying their whole organization was, that individually they sympathized 
more with the vital piety outside of the Church than with those inside 
who hold to her distinctive principles ; and therefore, on every occur- 
rence of a popular agitation among those denominations, there has been 
a fresh blunder made by the Evangelicals within the Church. When 
revivals were the rage, the Evangelicals sympathized ; and because they 
were partakers of a movement which interested great numbers of peo- 
ple, they felt that they must be adding to their own strength : but be- 
fore long the fervor went down, and then our Evangelicals were sur- 
prised to find that they were actually weaker than before. When the 
temperance excitement arose, they ver}' generally went into that likewise, 
on the same instinctive principle, and with the same general result. 
When anti-slavery began to ring from the pulpits of the sects, the Evan- 
gelicals were the only ones who even felt inclined to give the same sort 
of gospel among us ; but before the breaking out of the civil war, this 
tendency was kept under restraint by the fact that Virginia, a slave State, 
was the stronghold of Evangelicalism, and several other Southern dio- 
ceses had similar ecclesiastical sympathies. With the uprising of the 
North, after the attack on Fort Sumter, all this was changed; and 
the Evangelicals once more yielded to the primary instinct of their re- 
ligious life, which is, to go with the crowd of the Orthodox Evangelical 
denominations in every popular movement. And this, as in all previous 
cases, turned to their injury, only more completely than ever, because 
it bit deeper. The idea that successive temporary excitements, having 
no connection with Church principle or Church life, could really build 
up a solid strength within the Church, was, of course, preposterous : 
but our Evangelicals, who never reason correctly, took it for true wis- 
dom, and perpetrated the same blunder over and over again with an 
amusing pertinacity. They may have heard that " the Church is an 
anvil that hath worn out many a hammer; " and yet they always sym- 
pathized with the hammer, and never with the anvil. During the war, 

* We omit all adequate mention of the marvellous Church revival of our 
age, which began vt'ith the Oxford movement, and which, in less than forty 
years, has built ten times as many churches as were erected in the previous 
three hundred years, to say nothing of the extension of the Anglican episco- 
pate almost over the world ; while in schools, literature, the arts, and every- 
thing affiliated, however remotely, with the Church, the progress has been 
equally great. Nor can we say anything of the noble, pure, and full Ascet- 
icism, which is the heart of it all. Our subject is, not the growth of the 
Church party, but the Decline and Fall of the other. 



Appendix. ^ 3 1 3 

therefore, they thought they had " a sure thing ; " and after the General 
Convention of 1862 their- triumph seemed to be complete. 

But there were others who saw deeper than they did. If the country 
w^ere to be permanently divided, then the Evangelical policy was the 
best ; but if the country were to be reunited, and the Church also, then 
the war policy, for the Church, would be fatal. Sound Churchmen, 
therefore, who held that as Churchmen they had no concern whatever 
with politics ; and those also who firmly believed that the unity of the 
country would be restored, and that then the greatest triumph of the 
Church w^ould be to give a glorious example of the spontaneous re- 
union of separated brethren ; all these united fought their way through 
the war, enduring any amount of personal abuse for " disloyalty," 
" sympathy with traitors," and other such bitter and crazy nonsense, 
until the return of peace, when their patient courage was abundantly 
rewarded. Those who thought they had triumphed gloriously in 1862 
were left a sorry remnant in 1865, too feeble even to secure the inser- 
tion of a protest on the Minutes : and of all the Southern dioceses there 
is not one that can now be relied on as staunch to the Evangelical 
party. Even Virginia has lost the heartiness of her ancient devotion, 
and is keeping up an earnest thinking as to what all this means. Thus 
the most brilliant triumph of our Evangelicals was also the briefest, 
and the most fatal to themselves. 

Another piece of short-sighted unwisdom has all along characterized 
the Evangelical policy ; but as it is a logical necessity in their position, 
it is certain that they will continue it zealously to the end of the chap- 
ter. Their own particular party creed being very short and simple, so 
far as its positive teachings are concerned, and being precisely the 
same that constitutes the popular religion of the day, and therefore is 
well known to everybody ; it is simply impossible to render the col- 
umns of their periodicals or the pages of their books interesting at all, 
unless by means of the double antipathies which are so dear to them. 
As the larger part of their labors is thus devoted to a propagation of 
the gospel of hatred, which they have made peculiarly their own, they 
may be safely depended upon to rake up and publish, and keep pub- 
lishing, every extreme or unwise thing done by their opponents. Their 
charity, too, is so great that, as a general rule, they either assert or in- 
sinuate that the whole Church party is responsible for every extrava- 
ganza of doctrine or practice that can be discovered in any Ritualist. 
They delight in printing, at full length, with all the strange-looking 
technical words (which pass for something horrible because they do 
not know what they mean), the most elaborate accounts of Ritualistic 
services. The sympathy which exists between them and the denomi- 
nations, ensures the copying of these accounts in the numberless issues 
of the sectarian press ; and the secular press sympathizes, of course, 
sufficiently to add still further to the publicity of every piquant detail. 
Take S. Alban's, Holborn, and S. Alban's, New York, as samples ; and 
compare the brief and infrequent mention of them in the Church press, 
with the interminable columns that have been devoted to them by the 
Low Church, sectarian, and secular papers. The disproportion is ab- 



314 -^ Champion of the Cross. 

solutely laughable. The opponents of Ritualism seem judicially blind 
to the fact that they are thus constantly giving it the benefit of an 
enormous amount of gratuitous advertising — an amount of advertising 
that hundreds of thousands of dollars could not have bought, but 
which they are thus making a present of to those whom they hate 
most. It is no wonder that the Ritualists are in very good humor with 
such a way of carrying on the war. They may laugh who win. The 
constant crowds present at Ritualistic churches are largely due to this 
handsome system of hostile advertising. Among the many who come 
expecting to be horrified, the larger part find that it is not so horrible 
after all. A second and a third visit render it still less obnoxious ; and 
finally, in many cases, the enemy is turned into a friend. And, as we 
have said before, there is no danger that the Evangelicals will cease this 
mode of building up their opponents and undermining themselves ; for 
if they once stop their tirades against Ritualists and Ritualism, what 
caji they fill their columns with that anybody will find it interesting to 
read .'' And as for the Church party, it ;nust continue to grow, so long 
as its bitterest enemies kindly persist in thus advertising it so enor- 
mously — for nothing. 

Another disadvantage of the Evangelical party, as a party, is, that 
its own inconsistencies have gone far to destroy its credit with precisely 
those plain common-sense people to whom it delights to appeal. When, 
after reading Evangelical editorials for years against the Popery of 
crosses and flowers in churches, and lights burning by day, they at 
length find Dr. Tyng himself crowning the spires of S. George's Church, 
Stuyvesant Square, with two great crosses, and adorning the interior 
with other crosses that cannot easily be numbered for multitude ; when 
they find flowers enough crowded into the chancel of the same S. 
George's Church to deck for a high festival half-a-dozen Ritualistic 
altars ; and when they find the gas-burners in full blaze all round the 
interior of the same S. George's Church, while the sun is brightly shin- 
ing out of doors ; what are they likely to think ? Moreover, after read- 
ing, for years, hot denunciations against the " meretriciousness " of 
adorning churches with colors and gold, when they at length see more 
than twenty-five thousand dollars spent on the inside of the walls of 
that same S. George's Church merely for colors and gold, what is the 
result as touching the godly sincerity of the Evangelical party in its 
fierce and wholesale denunciations } Plain, common-sense people 
don't see any difference in principle between having crosses on spire, 
font, pulpit, roof, gallery, and pavement, and having a cross upon the 
altar — especially as they have so long been taught that the altar is not 
a whit more sacred than any other part of the church. They don't 
see how flowers can be all right on the first Sunday after Easter in the 
afternoon, and all wrong on Easter-day in the morning. They don't 
see how fifty lights in the nave should be good Protestantism, and two 
lights on the altar be flat Popery. They don't see how colors and gold 
can be consistent with vital piety on walls, beams, stonework and 
woodwork, upholstery and altar-cloths, and yet be fundamental and 
deadly doctrinal error in a vestment of the minister. And the conse- 



Appendix. 3 1 5 

quence is, that the louder and the more furiously these Evangelicals rave 
and ramp about the Popery of such things when done by the Ritual- 
ists, the more easily plain, common-sense people smile and shrug their 
shoulders, and see no occasion to be alarmed in the slightest. 

It is not to be supposed that the Evangelicals have been unconscious 
of their own decay. Even before the breaking out of the war, one of 
their prominent men gave privately to one of the Church party the real 
reason why they had organized separate Evangelical societies within the 
Church. It was, he said, a matter of necessity to do so, in order, if 
possible, to prevent their w^hole party from gradually coming over to 
ours. They had discovered the strong tendency in that direction, and 
knew that the only way to stop it was to prevent, as much as they 
could, all actual contact of the two parties in the practical work of the 
Church : an actual contact which the Church party has always sought, 
and by which it is sure to grow ; while the other party shuns it in- 
stinctively, because it has found it destructive. All that the iron pot 
asks is a chance for a fair bump ; while that is naturally the sort of fair- 
ness which the earthen pot is most anxious to avoid. The only desire 
of the Evangelicals, on the contrary, is to stand far enough off to render 
misapprehensions easy, and correction impossible. But if they were 
aware of this before the war, much more palpably was it forced upon 
their consciousness after the war was over, and when they had discov- 
ered the destructive consequences of their mistaken policy. The famous 
breakfast party at Delmonico's was intended as a formal rehabilitation 
of the Evangelical party in its previous position ; but the damage done 
is such as breakfasts cannot repair. On reckoning the diminishing num- 
bers of the Evangelical array in the General Convention — the only test 
of proportionate strength in the general legislation of the Church — the 
truth was visible to the most unwilling eyes. " My leanness, my lean- 
ness ! " was the cry of the knowing ones of the party. And in one of 
their most thoroughgoing organs, within less than two years after the 
war was over, there were open utterances of the most gloomy forebod- 
ings. Our limits will not permit us to give extracts ; but we state the 
evident drift of the remarkable articles to which we allude. 
. They began with a melancholy retrospect of Evangelical mistakes, 
laying chief stress upon their folly in assenting to the division of the 
Mission work which was effected on the reorganization of the board in 
1835, they taking the Foreign Committee while the Church party con- 
trolled the Domestic. They might have known — it was said — i! they 
had thought a moment, that as the fruits of the Domestic work were 
speedily admitted to General Convention, while those of the Foreign 
field were not, such a division of their forces would soon make the 
Church party so strong in General Convention and in the Board, that 
they could take the Foreign Committee too, whenever they were so 
minded ; and that had already come to be the case. [All this was true ; 
but how could the Evangelicals have prevented it? In 1835 they were 
yet in a minority, and therefore could not dictate terms to the majority, 
much less insist on controlling both committees. And if they had begun 
thus early their now favorite plan of isolated work, it would only have 



3i6 A CJiampio7i of the Cross. 

injured them, by this time, much more than it actually has ; for it would 
have been in operation just so much longer.] However, the Evangelical 
editorials to which we are referring went on to show the immense growth 
of the Church party ; that almost every new diocese organized in the 
mission field now came in as a High - Church diocese ; that, as fast as 
Evangelical Bishops died, their dioceses were almost certain to elect 
High-Churchmen in their places ; and that the older and larger dioceses 
were being put through a course of subdivision which would probably 
in every case add still further to the High-Church strength ; so that 
what with their own losses and the gains on the other side, there was 
every human probability that, in ten years or thereabouts, the Evangeli- 
cals would not have a single vote left, either in the Upper or the Lower 
House of General Convention ! Next came the consideration as to what 
could be done to cure or even modify the evil. And it was not obscurely 
shown that the best, and indeed the only, thing that could be done, was. 
to get up a Schism, while they were yet strong enough to make one ; for 
that in a few years, at the present rates of change, they would be too 
weak to be able to make a schism, no matter how ardently they might 
then desire it. 

It took some time for the brillant idea embodied in those Evangeli- 
cal editorials to work its way to the acceptance of the more radical 
leaders of the party. There were two grounds on which it was thought 
the needed preparation for a schism could be made. One was, to sound 
so loud an alarm about the fearfulness of Ritualism as to frighten some 
people into a readiness to seek refuge from the monster in a schism ; and 
the other was, to provoke, if possible, some exercise of discipline against 
Evangelical irregularities, upon which the cry of " tyranny " and " per- 
secution " could be raised, so as to command further sympathy. 
These were not very promising attempts, either of them ; but the case 
was getting to be desperate, and what else could be thought of. 

It has often been a cause of devout thanksgiving on our part, that a 
kind Providence has, for many years past, sent us opponents in the 
Church who have very little common sense, and no tactics at all. 
When their own party is already a minority, and is growing smaller 
day by day, they seem to think that the surest way to make it grow 
larger is to start some more extreme policy, which will split the few 
that are left, and drive the better part of them into our embraces. Then 
again, our position being defensive, and their programme requiring them 
to begin the attack, only look and see how wisely they have managed 
it. When an enemy is entrenched in a stronghold', with many succes- 
sive lines of defence, and each approach guarded by many outworks, a 
true and wise strategy will reduce the outworks one by one, and bring 
on the decisive contest as near the citadel as possible. This being the 
wise course, the Evangelicals instinctively took the opposite, and risked 
the whole campaign on the first and feeblest outpost they came to. If 
defeated there, the Church party had fort after fort, rampart after ram- 
part, to which they could retire in succession, and continue the fight ; 
but if the assailants were repulsed at that first outpost, good-by to them ! 
The outpost chosen by the Evangelicals was the canon forbidding any 



Appendix. 317 

clergyman of the Church to officiate within the territorial limits of 
another clergyman's parish without his express consent ; and the famous 
young Tyng case arose, and roared its way through all the newspapers 
in the land. 

The consequence was a total defeat for the Evangelical party. They 
had secured the " tyrannical " verdict out of which they hoped to make 
party capital enough to serve as the foundation of a schism ; but the 
foundation seemed to be laid in a quicksand, and immediately disap- 
peared. When, in advance, there was an attempt to dragoon the 
whole party into an agreement upon the radical platform, the conserva- 
tive section of it rallied, and put an extinguisher over the blaze at its 
first kindling ; and in consequence the language of the Philadelphia 
Declaration was more mild than exciting. It was thought triumphant 
strategy for Dr. Tyng to declare himself entirely satisfied with " the 
Prayer-Book as it is." Even the Bishop of Ohio, in publicly fraterniz- 
ing with the Presbyterians was careful to avoid any phrase which ex- 
pressed a conviction of the validity of Presbyterian " Orders." There 
was evident motion in the water ; and yet the watched pot would not 
actually boil. And when, after the protracted and intense excitement of 
the trial, and when every art of the demagogue had been exhausted in 
order to enlist the public press, and bully the court, and kindle the popular 
passion to a readiness for an outbreak, all this formidable preparation 
broke into nothing, like a puff-ball, when the sentence was only an " ad- 
monition." It was impossible, with a straight face, to make " tyranny " 
and "persecution " out of that. At the meeting of indignant partisans 
held immediately after, and while their blood was at the hottest, there 
was an attempt to declare for a schism on that basis ; but it failed igno- 
miniously, even then and there. It appeared, even at such a moment, 
that if some of the clergy went into a schism, they could not depend 
upon their own laity to go with them ; that many of their own people 
did not approve of the flat disobedience of a canon which had provoked 
the trouble ; and that the great preponderance of voices, even among 
themselves, was not for a schism, unless the next General Convention 
should refuse to relax that canon. It was therefore agreed to " agitate, 
AGITATE, AGITATE," for the repeal or modification of that canon. 
If that were refused, terrible things would happen ! Some wished to 
insist on alternative forms being added to the Prayer-Book in certain 
places; but they were regarded as rather radical, and the party would 
not commit itself to so extreme a position. 

The only other point upon which there was anything like a general 
rally was upon the right to " exchange pulpits " with non-Episcopal 
preachers outside the Church ; in vindication of which some clergymen, 
who ought to have known better, broke the canon deliberately, in the 
hope of thereby proving that it could not mean what it says. A noble 
Pastoral by the Bishop of New York led to a pamphlet war, in which, 
as the clear result, the Pastoral was left in possession of the field. 
This line of business, however, culminated in the Hubbard case, in 
Rhode Island, of which more hereafter. 

The days and weeks rolled onward slowly toward the meeting of 



3i8 A Champio7i of the Cross. 

the General Convention ; but the determination to " agitate, agitate, 
agitate," amounted to comparatively little. Memorials were numer- 
ously signed indeed ; but the signatures had to be drummed for, and 
when they were laid before General Convention they had not the 
weight of a feather. The agitation grew cooler and cooler, instead of 
hotter and hotter: until — not long before the ist of October — the very 
Evangelical papers which had made it their specialty to get up the ex- 
citement openly groaned over the total failure of their agitation, and 
confessed the entire indifference of the bulk of their own party in re- 
gard to it. This, of course, was fatal to any attempt to secure a 
relaxation of the Tyng and Hubbard canons. 

But our wise Evangelicals are not content to fail like other people. 
They must needs go about to make the assurance of failure doubly 
sure. And they succeeded gloriously ! 

It will be remembered that it was the influence of the Moderate 
Evangelicals which overruled the attempt of the Radicals to clamor 
for " an alteration of the Prayer-Book, or schism ! " The Moderates in- 
sisted that nothing more must be attempted than merely the relaxation 
of those two canons : and they claimed triumphantly that they were 
content with " ///^ Prayer-Book as it is." The Prayer-Book, they 
said, had always been EvangeHcal in its real meaning, for was it not 
the work of the glorious Protestant Reformers } The Evangelical in- 
terpretation was therefore the natural, the true, the only honest inter- 
pretation. But when the agitation for an amendment of those two 
canons was found to cool as rapidly as mutton graxy in a cold dish, then 
the Radical Evangelicals broke out, on their own responsibility, in the 
most brilliant and successful manner. An anonymous pamphlet, in a 
pink cover, appeared (written by an Evangelical priest since deceased), 
and bearing the sensational title, " Are there Romanizing Germs in the 
Prayer-Book? " This pamphlet is of such importance at this point of 
our subject, that, notwithstanding the fearful calamity in which its 
writer lost his life not long after, we cannot pass it by. We shall re- 
view it, not as representing its writer so much as the school of which 
he was the representative ; and as a blunder of that school, it is so sig- 
nificantly rich, that we hardly know how to refrain from quoting nearly 
the whole of it. It defines Romanizing germs to be " seeds of spiritual 
death to every organization in which they are allowed to root and 
grow. They choke, in due time, the most precious and fundamental 
truths of our faith. They change the sinner's sure and steadfast hope 
into a rope of sand." This is fearfully emphatic language, especially 
when applied to " the Prayer-Book as it is," with which Dr. Tyng is so 
entirely satisfied. Moreover, this pamphlet does not profess unlimited 
faith in the Reformers ; and here we gather the fruits of the fresh 
study of the Reformation which was made necessary by the challenge 
given in Tract No. 90. This pamphlet corroborates Tract No. 90 on 
both sides of its work. As a matter of principle, it recognizes no duty 
to the Reformers, but to amend their work, and reject their ideas when 
erroneous ; and as a matter of fact, it acknowledges that the views of 
the Reformers, and of the final revisers of the Prayer-Book, were what 



Appendix. 319 

is now called " Romanizing," and were by no means identical with the 
popular Evangelical Protestantism of the present day. But let us go 
to details. 

The pamphlet recognizes the fact that Elizabeth retained eleven of 
Bloody Mary's Romish councillors, and added only eight Protestant 
ones of her own selection ; while for years the Papists " repaired to 
their parish churches without doubt or scruple," and priests officiated 
at the parochial altars. " The Liturgy," it says, "was published early 
in Elizabeth's reign, when there was hope of compromise with Rome, 
and hence is Romish.'' Alluding to the changes since made, it can- 
didly confesses : " We cannot fairly assert that the Prayer-Book which 
we now use is the one left us by the Edwardian Reformers ; " and 
adds, very properly : " When interpreting the amended portions, we 
cannot, of course, refer to those worthies, any more than we can prop- 
erly appeal to Hamilton and Jefferson to explain the amendments 
recently made to the Federal Constitution." And it says further : " It 
was a strange admission made by Dr. Bayford, Gorham's own counsel, 
that ' Roman Catholics might conform to the Church of England with- 
out violating their consciences.' " This is Tract No. 90 in full, only 
" a little more so," so far as general principles are concerned. 

As to the Rule of Faith, which Protestantism makes to be " the 
Bible as each man's private judgment understands it for himself," the 
pamphlet finds that this is by no means the doctrine of the Prayer- 
Book. For Article VI. (the Articles, it seems, are erroneous as well as 
the Prayer-Book) declares the Apocrypha to be read by the Church 
" for example of life and instruction of manners ; " and the Homilies 
are recognized in the Articles also ; and " Ancient Authors " are ap- 
pealed to in the same category with " Holy Scripture ; " and " the An- 
cient Canons " are recognized as having power to " command " us, and 
are " linked with the Holy Scripture to regulate owx discipline ;'' so 
that " morality, doctrine, polity, and discipline," are all affected by 
these " traditions of men." As to the Homilies, our pamphleteer is par- 
ticularly emphatic. In them, he says, " the Apocryphal books are de- 
scribed as ' the infallible and undeceivable word of God.' Baptism 
and justification are used as synonymous terms. Baptism is spoken 
of as the ' fountain of regeneration.' We are said to be ' washed in 
our baptism from the filthiness of sin.' Matrimony is denominated a 
sacrament. The Fathers are appealed to as authorities. The prim- 
itive Church is recommended to be followed as most incorrupt and 
pure." And all these passages in the Homilies, he insists, " form an 
integral part thereof,* and are to be read diligently and distinctly, that 

* These passages, we suppose, are omitted in the "abridged edition" of 
the Homilies published by the Evangelical Knowledge Society. The pam- 
phleteer seems to reflect upon the American Church Missionary Society (a 
purely Low-Church organization) for including " Articles, Liturgy, and 
Homilies" as standards of "principles and doctrines." "Accordance with 
them," he says, is thus "made an article of our faith." He condemns his 
own partisan societies for really professing to believe all that is held by the 
Church party ! 



320 A Champion of the Cross. 

they may be understanded of the people." And he thus states the 
logical consequences of such teaching : " The ' Homilies ' of Cranmer 
and his associates are excellent, but are not the Homilies of Chrysos- 
tom and the saints of his time as weighty ? The ' Ancient Authors ' 
testify to the fact of Episcopacy, why should they not of its prerog- 
atives ? The ' Ancient Canons ' command on one point of discipHne, 
why not on another? " Precisely so ; and hence he thinks that Prayer- 
Book doctrine leads straight to such as this, which he quotes from Dr. 
Dix: 

" Divine, or, as it is called, Catholic, faith is a gift of God and a light 
of the soul, illuminated by which a man assents fully and unreservedly 
to all which Almighty God has revealed and which He proposes to us 
by His Church to be believed, whether written or unwritten." 

And he adds : " This point having been reached, it follows as a nec- 
essary sequence that the sacramental and sacerdotal ideas with which 
all patristic writings are surcharged, will be accepted and proclaimed." 
Just as if the same Convocation of 1 562 which adopted the Thirty-nine 
Articles had not expressly " accepted and proclaimed " that very thing, 
when they enjoined that all preachers should " in the first place be 
careful never to teach anything from the pulpit, to be religiously held 
and believed by the people, but what is agreeable to the doctrine of the 
Old and New Testament, and collected out of that very doctrine by the 
Catholic Fathers and ancient Bishops." The object of the very men 
who set forth the Articles is thus proved to be the special horror of the 
Evangelical pamphleteer ! It is amusing, too, to see the fanatical op- 
position of such men to the mention of the " unwritten " word of God. 
Why, their great Protestant tradition, that the Holy Scriptures " con- 
tain all things necessary to salvation " — a tradition embodied in our 
Constitution, and which is so far made an article of faith that no man 
can be admitted to Holy Orders without subscribing it — cannot itself 
be found in Holy Scripture at all ; and cannot be proved but by the aid 
of those same " patristic writings " which are so " surcharged with 
sacramental and sacerdotal ideas." The Evangelical Protestant who 
denies all " unwritten " tradition, cuts the throat of his own hobby. 

The three great treasures confided to the Church being the Ministry', 
the Word, and the Sacraments, and our Prayer-Book being thus shown 
to be " Romanizing " in regard to " the Word," it is next found to be 
no better off as to the Ministry. 

The Prayer-Book has the word " priest ;" and the pamphlet says that 
" for the real significance of ' priest ' in this rubric [before the Absolution 
in Daily Prayer], we must consult the reactionary spirit of 1662." And 
again : " Our Declaration is simply abreast of the first twelve centuries, 
which cover the formative period of the Romish system." And so he 
goes on to prove that our priests are clothed with proper priestly powers, 
and perform properly priestly acts, in " consecration " and " oblation " 
in the Holy Eucharist, in benediction, and in the forgiving and retaining 
of sins. He states that in our American Church, the " form most com- 



Appendix. 321 

monly used " in ordaining priests is that which begins : " Receive the 
Holy Ghost for the Office and Work of a Priest in the Church of 
God ;" and that these words "are avowedly used because they are 
Christ's words." He admits that " all this is the most blasphemous 
frivolity, if it be not the deepest truth," though evidently convinced 
that it is " most blasphemous frivolity." He admits that the Prayer- 
Book teaches the Apostolic Succession ; and that it means thereby " a 
tactual succcssio7i whereby grace is communicated from one to another 
for the exercise of ' sacerdotal functions ' in a ' sacerdotal connection ';" 
that, in accordance with this view, " exchtsiveiiess is the prevailing prac- 
tice of our Church. All iniiiistcrs are reordained. Priests %uho are of 
the Succession, though they be Roman or Greek, are not reordained." 
The " functions " of the priest are acknowledged to be " supernatural " 
and " the dogma of traiismitted grace " to be " distinctly stated." Mas- 
kell is declared to have made only " logical deductions from the Prayer- 
Book doctrine " when he said : 

" The members of the Church of England, by God's blessing, well 
know that none but a priest can stand in their stead before the Holy 
Table, and offer in their behalf the solemn prayers and praises of the 
Office of the Lord; that none but a priest can consecrate the ele- 
ments, ... A denial of the Christian sacrifice leads easily to the 
denial of the priesthood." 

And the following form of Absolution, from the Church of England 
Prayer-Book, is put in the same category : 

" Our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath left power to His Church to 
absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him, of His great 
mercy, forgive thee thine offences, and by His authority, committed to 
me, I absolve thee from all thy sins in the name of the Father, and of 
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 

And he quotes Goode's admission concerning the Ordination for- 
mula, that " the existence of such language in the Prayer-Book leaves 
it open here (unfortunately, I think) to adopt a papistical interpreta- 
tion; " and yet Goode.he tells us, was " ever slow to acknowledge that 
anything in the Prayer-Book is not ultra-Protestant." 

On the subject of the Ministry, therefore, the Prayer-Book is no more 
to be trusted by an Evangelical than on the Word ; but its Romish 
errors on the subject of the Sacraments are the worst of all ! 

Thus he begins with Baptism : " The Romish dogma is expressed 
with sufficient explicitness by the current phrase Baptismal Regen- 
eration." In regard to the Baptismal Office in the Prayer-Book, he 
says, " its doctrinal statements are so integral a part of the service, that 
every baptized person, however illiterate, must become a party there- 
to." Moreover; " the service is positive in its declarations, logical in 
its sequent steps, and remarkably contrived to declare with great dis- 
tinctness the doctrine involved. Objection to it belongs to its structure 



322 A Champion of the Cross. 

as much as to any of its expressions. It is an ecclesiastical monograph 
on the doctrine of Baptism." Again : 

" The word ' regenerate ' conveys the central idea of these offices. 
We cannot agree that this word has lost its ancient, or rather its orig- 
inal, meaning. We have failed to obtain from those who hold this 
view any satisfactory historic proof of such changes. It is, indeed, no 
longer used by all synonymously with ' baptize,' because all the Chris- 
tian world does not now believe, as it once did, that the ' baptized ' 
are 'regenerated.' . . . Moreover, the Prayer-Book does not 
seem to leave much room for doubt upon this point. In Article 
XXVII., regeneration is used synonymously with new birth, and is a 
translation of the Latin renati." 

After full quotations from the Offices, the writer says : " If, after this 
recital of these explanatory clauses, it is still asserted that regeneration 
or new birth means only some ecclesiastical change, we are constrained 
to inquire. What ideas of ' the state of salvation ' are prevailing among 
us ? " He then goes on, at length, to prove that the Office declares the 
vital importance of regeneration ; that it is to be sought in Baptism ; 
that this object is declared to be gained ; and that God is solemnly 
thanked for it. This, he says, implies the opus opci-aiiini. The protest 
of 1553 against this Romish error, he tells us, " was withdrawn in 1571 
(Queen Elizabeth's reign), and has not since been restored; in which 
respect we have ceased to be Protestant." He concedes freely that 
Ambrose, Tertullian, and the whole primitive Church, taught the doc- 
trine he condemns ; and gives up the whole body of the Reformers, 
too, with equal candor : 

" When Dean Goode wrote to Mr. Spurgeon that the baptismal ser- 
vice involved questions of ' what might be called historic theology,' 
he seemed to us to yield everything. For baptismal regeneration was 
the prevailing belief among all classes of theologians for years after the 
Reformation. Nearly all, if not all, of the catechisms framed at that 
time are tainted with it." 

After quoting some of them, he concludes that " the Edwardian 
reformers, as a body, believed in baptismal regeneration." The attempt 
to evade the force of this by showing that they were Calvinists (Dean 
Goode's view) "would not help us out of our present difficulty." And 
the men of 1662, equally with those of 1552, " believed that 'baptism 
is our spiritual regeneration.' " He sets forth in order five different 
modes that have been employed by Evangelical men to get over, or 
under, or around the language of the Prayer-Book ; but dismisses them 
all in disgust (Mr. Gorham's included), as being totally destitute of 
Scriptural authority : " Here are no less than yf?'^ different explanations, 
all or any one of which destroys the unity of the baptismal service, 
and violates its plain letter." And he adds : " The laity, for the most 
part, are ignorant of or unwilling to accept them." 



Appendix. 323 

As to the Holy Eucharist, the pamphlet tells us that in 1662 " a new 
spirit was breathed into our Communion Service " ; and the antipathy 
to the use of the words of our Lord — a strange antipathy for a Bible 
Christian — reappears : " We regard as unfortunate the use of the Script- 
ural language, ' Eat My Flesh and drink My Blood,' as it is used in 
some parts of the service." The opening words of the formula of 
reception are " constantly used to sanction high views of this Sacra- 
ment." It goes on to " object to the Consecration and Oblation of the 
Elements, and to the Invocation^' calling special attention to the addi- 
tions in our American Book, which make it, in the view of the pam- 
phleteer, so much worse than the English. He objects to the doctrinal 
phrase, " but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy 
Sacrament" ; and affirms that by the language of " the black rubric," 
concerning kneeling at the reception of the Holy Communion, " room 
was made for the entrance of the consubstantiation idea which now so 
extensively prevails among us." The grievances on this sacrament are 
summed up as follows : 

" In the use of Scriptural language in a wrong connection, in the 
consecration and oblation of the elements, in the invocation, in the 
reverent handling and eating of what remaineth, in the doctrinal 
phrase alluded to, in the want of explanation of the reasons for kneel- 
ing, and for the participation by the clergy before the people, we 
have seeds which, under certain circumstances, will germinate into 
Romish error." 

And as a specimen of such logical error, a quotation is given from 
Bishop Overall, who, on the words " we, and all Thy whole Church, 
may obtain remission of our sins," etc., remarks: "This is a plain 
oblation of Christ's death once offered, and a representative sacrifice 
of it for the sins and for the benefit of the whole world, of the whole 
Church." 

So the poor Prayer-Book cannot be trusted as to either the Ministry, 
or the Word, or the Sacraments ! 

But the Catechism is a special grievance besides ! " We regard it," 
says our pamphlet, " as a fruitful source of Romanizing doctrine, and 
as the instrument most useful in instilling in the minds of the young 
the germinal ideas of the sacerdotal and sacramentarian theories." Left 
to this, the poor child " would know but little of the finished salvation 
which is in Christ, and of the precious grace which flows from Him to 
every believing soul." Only think of it ! That miserable Catechism 
actually teaches " that there are duties to be done, rather than riches of 
grace to be enjoyed." And he concludes thus : 

" The large number of catechisms issued by the Evangelical Knowl- 
edge Society, and by other publishing houses, as well as by individuals, 
show how great ' is the want which they are designed to meet. The 
different character of the teaching they set forth is a standing protest 
against that which every clergyman is commanded to teach his children 



324 A Champion of the Cross. 

at least once a month. Doubtless, if the Catechism were less frequently 
taught, our people would less easily be led into Romanizing error." 

After thus abandoning the whole Prayer-Book field to the Church 
party, our pamphlet is quite consistent in much that it says of that 
party : 

" The sacerdotal party are neither small in numbers nor aliens in our 
ecclesiastical commonwealth. Nor yet is their influence on the decline. 
They have been an integral part of our Church from its beginning. 
They have ever been numerous and influential enough fo vioitld its 
prevailmg se7tti?nents, and, as we have seen, to establish their own 
doctrinal status by material changes in the Book of Conini07t Prayer. 
Their growth, and the acceptance of their peculiar doctrines, have been 
at least coequal with the extension of the Church. Indeed, to the eyes 
of many they seem like a flowing tide gathering force, and sweeping 
away clergy and laity, churches, institutions, and dioceses. The Evan- 
gelical party, the true representatives of the Protestant Edwardian 
Reformation, with all their societies and earnestness, have been as 
impotent to stay this tide as Canute on Britain's sands. They have, on 
the other hand, felt the power of this overshadowing influence, and 
have become in some degree infected with semi-sacerdotalism and semi- 
sacramentarianism, which has dashed their courage, weakened the force 
of their convictions, and unjointed their armor of aggressiveness." 

And the Prayer-Book is the cause of it all ! 

" A ' Prayer-Book Churchman ' is a current phrase, expressive of this 
fact. Dr. Pusey and his friends have ever declared in all sincerity that 
they have ' made their way ' by the Prayer-Book. It seems like folly to 
assert that a large body of our people, intelligent as they are, have been 
led to adopt a doctrinal system the ver}' opposite of that which they 
believe is taught by the Prayer-Book, their much-loved formulary. The 
present position and influence of the sacerdotal party can, in our opinion, 
be accounted for in only one satisfactory way : they are built upon, and 
are the outgrowth of, the Romanizing germs in the Prayer-Book. So 
long as these remain, disciples thereof will multiply." 

While candidly saying, " We cheerfully accord to the sacerdotal 
party entire conscientiousness of conviction. Their doctrinal views 
doubtless seem to them in entire accorda^ice with the Bible and the 
Book of Coniinon Prayer,'' this pamphlet declares, of its own friends, 
" We are firmly convinced that clear views of Bible truth have led to 
the non-natural interpretation of the Offices. Yet how often have 
the Gospel teachings of the pulpit been neutralized by the instructions 
of the Prayer-Book ! " And again we read : 

" It is a noteworthy fact, that during three hundred years, a large 
and influential sacerdotal party have existed within our Church, and 



Appendix. 325 

come down to our time in uninterrupted succession. Their rallying 
cry has been these very doctrines. They have vindicated them by ap- 
pealing to the natural interpretation of the Occasional Offices, our popu- 
lar theological formulas." 

And again : 

" The constant repetition of the declaration of baptismal regenera- 
tion has forced many to believe, at last, ivhat has been so often spoken 
in unbelief. Defections from Evangelical truth among us are to be 
traced to the insidious influence of the Offices. The testimony of the 
Articles has been but little felt, because they have been a sort of clerical 
dessert (some decline dessert), while the Offices have been daily food. 
. . . Humiliating as it is to confess all this, we feel that nothing is 
to be gained, and much may be lost, by attempting to conceal what is 
patent to the world. . . . One marvels to see how busy are some 
Sacerdotalists in plucking the blossom of Ritualism from the plant of 
High Churchism, as if it were of abnormal growth, and not the natural 
efflorescence. One grows sad while observing the many Evangelicals 
who try to stay the tide of High Churchmanship by quoting the Prayer- 
Book. In view of these facts, we are forced to regard the Prayer-Book 
as the fountain whence flows that stream of Romanizing influences 
which is rapidly growing into a mighty river, and, with its many 
branches, penetrating our whole Church." 

But while thus conclusively recognizing the honesty of the position of 
the Church party, and the fact that the standards of the Church clearly 
teach their principles, the picture drawn by the pamphlet of the position 
of the party it represents is pitiable in the extreme. As to the Baptismal 
Offices, he says there is one question which it will not do to pass by : 

" It is this : How can Evaiigelical men use these Offices and yet re- 
7naijt faithful to the truth as it is ill Jesus? We would answer, in 
their behalf, that few of them administer heartily : some under protest ; 
some refuse ; the majority of them apologize for their action, by putting 
a non-natural sense upon the Offices. When asked to explain them 
they explain them away. . . . Every Evangelical minister, then, 
speaks to his congregation with a mental reservatio7i, and heartily 
thanks God for doing what he does not believe, in all cases, is done I 
Is it possible that the ser\^ants of God, who, above all others, are to 
provide things honest before all men, are compelled to resort to such 
equivocation, and that public Offices can be framed only on such a 
principle ? If we suppose that this hypothesis is good when applied to 
the minister, what has charity to do with the child's own declaration, 
' Wherein I was made,' etc. Are we to teach our children to lie? " 

Then again, in a passage to which we have already referred, after 
considering the five Low-Church explanations of the Baptismal Offices, 
he says : 



326 A CJiainpion of tJie Cross. 

" Here are no less than five different explanations, all or any one of 
which destroys the unity of the Baptismal Service, and violates its plain 
letter. They are so constantly obtruded as to suggest great sensitive- 
ness of conscience behind them. They have been unceasingly offered, 
but without relieving many of a sore burden which the service imposes. 
Some have outgrown the scruples of their consciences, but every new 
generation is obliged to pass through the same struggles as those who 
have gone before. The world is slow to believe that popular devotional 
formularies are so recondite in their meaning that a vast amount of his- 
torical lore is necessary for their right interpretation, and has been quick 
to style these various explanations ' traditional, evasive expedients,' bad 
in principle, and unsatisfactory in result." 

Again : 

" An increasing number of the clergy are struggling under stress of 
conscience, tortured with doubts as to their duty. . . . They do 
not wish to get rid of their scruples by outgrowing them. Yet they 
cannot, without deep pain, use parts of some of the Occasional Offices. 
They shrink from the continued repetition of unsatisfactory explanations. 
They regard with alarm the influence of the Prayer-Book upon many 
of the souls committed to their charge. This stress of conscience dulls 
their enthusiasm and abates their influence. . . . We cannot use 
or give a Prayer-Book without, in some sense, becoming a party to its 
errors." 

And the prospects ahead seem to be as little inviting, or rather, still 
less so : 

" Still further it may be asked. Would not a revision to-day be less 
Protestant than it would have been twenty years ago ? Will it not be 
still less Protestant if it takes place twenty years hence, supposing the 
policy of the future to be, as in the past, Micawber-like } * Have we 
power to hinder such revision if the dominant party resolve to make it ? 
What, then, is our hope of diffusing Evangelical truth throughout our 
communion, of relieving distressed consciences, of preventing a Ro- 
manizing revision, but in such agitation in reference to the Roman- 
izing germs in the Prayer-Book as will call attention to the doctrines 
which they naturally develop, and will prepare the way for their extir- 
pation? " 

And the opening part of the pamphlet speaks of " the thickening 
calamities in our body politic," admitting that the very work which is 

* The revision completed in 1892 has completely verified this doleful pre- 
diction of the Low Churchmen of 1867. Such relaxation of rubrics as was 
granted was made in accordance with the customs of " Ritualists," and the 
doctrinal statements were made stronger, while the enrichments were pre- 
cisely such as were asked for by High Churchmen. 



Appendix. 327 

proposed " must increase the sad embarrassments and the weighty re- 
sponsibilities of the times in which we live." Poor Evangelicals ! We 
do not wonder that they feel blue ! 

This remarkable pamphlet at first was offered for gratuitous distri- 
bution, being widely mailed to clergy and laity all over the country. 
Sound Churchmen were so delighted with it, that within a few days 
applications from several of them were made for some five thousand 
copies in the aggregate, to be used as " campaign documents " for 
Churchmen. A dim consciousness that a mistake had been made then 
dawned upon some of the Evangelical leaders, and applicants were told 
that there were " none on hand." The second edition was marked on 
the title-page : " Price ten cents, post-paid." 

If this pamphlet had been the only thing of the sort, and if — being 
anonymous — it had not been issued from a responsible office, it 
might have passed for a High-Church hoax. But very soon after ap- 
peared another pamphlet, in a blue cover, evidently by a different hand, 
and with differences of treatment, but marvellously agreeing in the 
chief points we have noted. It is entitled, '' Revidenda ; or, A brief 
Statement of those things in the Liturgy which should be revised and 
altered," etc. It acknowledges that since the time of Edward VI. 
changes have been made " with the view of conciliating High Church- 
men and Romanists ; " and that " the real presence of Christ in or with 
the elements is not ignored." It admits that " The Baptismal Service 
being at the foundation of the ritual and Liturgy of our Church, we 
find all other parts of the ecclesiastical system built upon it, and in more 
or less harmony of design ; " yet he would destroy it root and branch. 
The author of it declares that the use of the ^K'ord priest " in any sense 
other than that in which any disciple may claim it, is unscriptural and 
sinful." As to Ordination, we are glad to learn from him that the 
alternative form in the ordination of priests, " Take thou authority," 
etc., " is now seldom used ; " and he adds : 

" So here we see the minister at his second ordination is invested 
with rights and privileges not granted to the deacon. He argues. If 
those priestly words are used, surely I have the right to interpret them 
in accordance with the well-known and straightforward meaning of 
them. The burden of proof that the words do not teach that I am to 
forgive sins, lies with those who deny the literal interpretation. So it 
does, etc." 

Touching the Declaration of Absolution in the Daily Prayer, he 
says: 

" We cannot expect members of other Churches to be posted and fa- 
miliar with the exceptions, explanations, rebutting evidence, and lines 
of argument, by which Evangelical men keep a good conscience [.''J in 
the use of the absolution service [sic]. Give it the ' priestly ' interpre- 
tation, and it is blasphemy, and many of us would never use it again if 
that is fairly proved. Allow that it is probably the sense, and the most 



328 A Champion of the Cross. 

fair and reasonable view of it, then the conscience is entangled, the use 
of the form is attended with misgiving, weight, and regret." . 

Among other familiar places, the Institution Office is faulted heavily : 
" It is a fungus ; but like all plants of that kind, the ideas in the In- 
stitution Office have rapidly increased, and have spread the false and 
corrupting sacerdotal theor}^ until it has nearly covered the whole 
denomination." Of course, the writer wishes all these things to be 
entirely removed ; but the most noticeable things he says are in cor- 
roboration of the confessions of the other pamphlet as to the intolerably 
dishonest position of the Evangelicals at present : 

" The real grievance is, that we do not like to read aloud passages 
and words, from one point of view% under cover of some sort of mental 
reservation, or according to a rather far-fetched interpretation, which 
are generally understood by our congregations in another sense, and — 
as is claimed by those who are entirely satisfied with the Offices — in 
their plain, primar\', and literal sense. . . . It is not always pos- 
sible to avoid being compromised and placed in a false position, when, 
in connection with others, the services are used, and an interpretation 
by emphasis or gesture is given by the officiator. . . . The use of 
the expressions under consideration, and the avowed or implied position 
that they are taken and understood in a different sense, becomes a 
trainijig i?i equivocation^ 

After showing the evils of dishonest subscriptions to the Articles, he 
continues : 

" The same course in reference to the Liturg}' has ended in a similar 
result. The danger, that the habit of mind, and the practice of inter- 
pretation and double sense, will extend to the words of Scripture 
themselves, and thus the same equivocation, glossing, and practical 
reversal of their divine statements will be apparent, is not one merely 
to be apprehended. The evil has been most sadly and widely exempli- 
fied, and threatens to affect all religious teaching." 

This confession that the Broad-Church school, and the skeptical 
tendency, are the direct outgrowth of Low-Churchism, is very striking, 
and perfectly true. But the evil, our author says, will not stop with 
the things of religion : 

" The practice will be adopted in secular matters, and engender and 
encourage prevarication and equivocation, the result of mental reser\'e, 
in all the relations and business of life. There will be an entire want 
of reliance on the plainest and most earnest and solemn declarations, 
and the query will be changed from ' What is truth .^ ' to ' Where is 
truth ? ' Thus it will be seen that the evil principle once introduced, 
or allowed, spreads its contagion, and taints all the good with which it 
comes in contact. The double or less obvious sense becomes a cancer 



Appendix. 329 

on the face of truth. In the name, therefore, of plain, honest speaking, 
in the name of pubhc morahty, in the name of true religion, let us 
preclude the need or the possibility of anything like equivocation." 

And yet once more, in his concluding summary of " plain reasons " 
why the Prayer-Book should be revised, he thus words one of them : 

" Because various formularies of the Church cannot now be read 
without apparent mental reservation ; and it is most undesirable that 
Christian ministers should even appear to understand and interpret 
words otherwise than in their plain and strict meaning." 

General Convention, therefore, is implored to give relief to the 
*' consciences " that are so sorely aggrieved. 

The Moderates among the Evangelicals are left, by this dashing 
movement of the Radicals, in a very uncomfortable position. They try 
to " explain away " the plain language of the Church, and claim that it 
does not mean what it plainly says. But the world is beginning to 
smile at so small a minority attempting to afhx new meanings to the 
English language. All Rom^anists, all Dissenters, all of the Church 
party (comprising five-sixths of all Churchmen), and now all the Rad- 
icals, who are the only really aggressive portion of the Evangelical 
party itself, are agreed that the Standards of our Church teach what 
the Church party holds ; and even the most pious impudence in the 
world will soon be shamed out of the attempt to assert the contrary. 
The Episcopalian is particularly severe upon the " explainers " among 
its own friends. It says Qanuary 13, iT ' 



"Some say, 'Pooh, pooh, we find no difficulty in the use of the 
book. We mean so and so by the words. We have wisdom — we 
know that an idol is nothing in the world ; ' we can sit in the idol's 
temple and eat things offered in sacrifice to that false god, yet it gives 
us no trouble ; we eat to satisfy hunger, and do not regard appearances. 
Others explain and explain, and try to reconcile the objectionable ex- 
pressions, and when a comfortable position helps them to invent, they 
get along pretty well. Others use the services, and suffer in mind and 
conscience, crying, ' Oh, Lord ! how long ? Lord, what wilt Thou 
have us to do ? Is it Thy voice, " Come ye out from among them, and 
be separate, and touch no unclean thing " ? ' Others decline their 
parishes, refuse to use the obnoxious services and expressions, and are 
censured for using the defective modes. They deny the teachings 
which they regard favorable to the false theory, refuse to be responsi- 
ble for their pernicious influence, and conscientiously suffer and wait 
for the day of deliverance. With these we sympathize; with these 
serious and anxious thinkers, feeling after God, and inquiring His will, 
we affiliate ; in their interest we exert ourselves. Their fortunes are 
ours ; their lot is pur chosen inheritance. Where they go we will go, 
and there we hope to remain. Their God shall be our God, and their 
people our people." 



330 A Champion of the Cross. 

So the moderate Evangelicals are confessed to be not only dishonest, 
but mercenar}' also ! " When a comfortable position helps them to in- 
veftt, they get along pretty well." Is not this rather severe upon cer- 
tain Low-Church Bishops, to say nothing of many others whom we 
could name ? Well may they exclaim, on reading such articles, " Save 
us from our friends I " But their chagrin cannot prevent the effect of 
the blow. These pamphleteers will be found to have done to their 
own party as fatal a service as General Hood rendered to " the Lost 
Cause " when he turned his face northward, and undertook to " cut 
off General Sherman's communications." 

Careful readers of the pink pamphlet will have noted its clear threat 
of schism, if the demand for relief of " consciences " by means of re- 
vision were not complied with : 

" The Romanizing germs in the Prayer-Book are an offence to their 
consciences. They feel that they have a right to claim such relief as, 
not being unreasonable in itself, may be granted without yielding any 
essential of the faith, or destroying the unity of the Church. If they 
are denied this relief, it will be necessary for them to seek it wherever 
they can find it. Their stress of conscience will not allow them to rest 
content in their present status. . . . On S. Bartholomew's day, 
1662, two thousand clergymen, including such men as Baxter, Owen, 
Alleine, Howell, Flavel, Poole, went out from the Church of England, 
because relief to their conscientious convictions was denied." 

This threat of a schism, as we mentioned at first, was openly made 
in a leading Evangelical paper, on the express ground that a schism 
was the only means of preventing the entire absorption of the Low- 
Church party.* It has been repeated again and again, in various forms, 
by others of their organs, especially The Protestafit Churchman and 
The Episcopalian. It was openly talked of, and generally agreed to, 
at the indignation meeting which followed the sentence upon young 
Mr. Tyng ; and then and there the chief point at issue was, the time at 
w^hich the schism should be made, some being clamorous for making 
it at once, and others declaring that it would be better to wait until 
they should see whether the next General Convention would grant them 
the " relief " which they demanded ; and if it would fiot, then they 
would go for a schism unanimously. Various suggestions for inde- 
pendent action, amounting, in fact, to schism, have been repeatedly 

* [This threat of making a schism was at last carried out, and in 1873 and 
1874 the " Reformed Episcopal Church " was organized. Bishop Cummin, 
then Assistant Bishop of Kentucky, was the only prelate who joined the new 
sect. It was a great loss to the Church that any high-minded and pious 
clergymen and laymen should feel impelled to leave the Church ; yet they 
could not accept the Prayer-Book as it is, and honorably followed their con- 
sciences. Their places are illy filled by the Broad Church clergymen, who 
openly deny 'that they are bound to believe the doctrines of the Church, and 
even deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, the Inspiration of the whole Bible, and 
the need of a Redeemer from sin. — C. F. S.] 



Appendix. 331 

made. For instance, The Protestant C/mrc/wian of April 2, 1868, in 
a leading- editorial on " The Liberal Branch of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church," said : 

" There are only three ways in which the relations between these 
parties can be adjusted. One is by the elimination from the Church of 
the sacerdotal party ; another is by the elimination of the party of the 
Reformation ; and the third is by some arrangement by which both 
can remain in the Church, each divesting itself as far as possible of 
every responsibility in regard to the other. The third method is the 
one we would now consider. 

" We take it for granted, on this supposition, that the sacerdotal sys- 
tem is to remain in the Church in such a form that it will be impossible 
to compromise with it. The first effect of this will be that the legisla- 
tion of the General and Diocesan Conventions must be restricted to a 
very narrow sphere. It would be impossible to legislate beyond the 
narrowest limits without interference with conscientious convictions, 
and without provoking resistance on the one side or the other. There 
will, from the necessities of the case, come to be virtually two ecclesi- 
astical bodies, organically connected together, each ordering for itself 
most of those matters which have heretofore been provided for by the 
General Convention. 

" The Liberal and Evangelical party has long since adopted the 
policy — which it is now too late to reverse, even if it were desirable — 
of leaving the organic Church institutions in the hands of the opposing 
party. What it needs now in order to secure for itself the prestige 
which the control of Church organizations gives to its opponents, is 
to assume itself a quasi-ecclesiastical character, and assert and maintain 
for itself a position of virtual independence in the Church. . . . 

" This much is certain, that the divergence of parties in our Church 
is now so gT-eat that they have not common ground to stand upon. It 
is impossible that both should agree in any legislation except of the 
most general character. It would be intolerable that one should legis- 
late for the other. If, then, they are to remain together, each must be 
permitted to order its own affairs in its own way." 

We give this extract, not because of any specific importance in it, but 
merely as a sample of the wild schemes that are passing through the 
brains of the few thinking men who yet cling to a dwindling and dying 
party. What can be more absurd, in a free country which has just tri- 
umphed in the greatest civil war the world ever saw, waged in order to 
compel the minority to submit to the majority when acting within con- 
stitutional forms of law — what can be more preposterously absurd, in 
such a country, than to assert a permanent right on the part of the 
minority to disobey all legislation, because it is so small a minority as to 
be unable to secure any appreciable weight in the legislative body that 
governs the whole? On the same ground, when the Republicans con- 
trol more than two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, the Democrats 
are freed from any obligation to obey the laws enacted by such a Con- 



352 A Champion of the Cross. 



other ; " therefore the minority must " assert and maintain for itself a 
position of virtual independence in the countr}^ ! " This is secession 
doctrine with a vengeance I The old theor}?" used to be, that a Sover- 
eign State had the right to secede. This new theorj" is, that any num- 
ber of Sovereign individuals have the right to secede, though they be 
not numerous enough to carry a single State in the Union ; and the 
fewer they are, the better is their right, and the clearer their duty, to 
secede ! When a great party has run down into such drivel as this, it 
is about time to order its coffin and write its epitaph. 

But in order to measure the utter fatuity of this scheme of a schism, 
we must go back once more, and notice the great event which has 
really crushed out all possibility of vigorous life for a Low-Church 
party hereafter in the Anglican communion. We refer to the Council 
of Lambeth ; the full greatness and importance of which has not as yet 
begun to dawn upon the minds of more than a few. An absolute ma- 
jority of all the bishops of our Communion were there present, and all 
signed its Synodical letter, and agreed to its resolutions. So large a 
number of the absentees have since sent in their entire adhesion, that a 
hea\y majority of each separately organized portion of our Communion 
is now committed, irrevocably, to the maintenance of what was there 
done. Now the chief reliance of the Low-Church party is upon the 
Thirty-nine Articles (which they misunderstand) ; and the Council of 
Lambeth utterly ignored the Thirty-nine Articles. The Low-Church 
party glories in the being " Protestant ; " and the Council of Lambeth 
utterly ignored Protestantism. The Evangelicals hold themselves up 
as the models of all true religion, and repudiate all idea of the reunion 
of Christendom except upon their own party platform ; and the Coun- 
cil of Lambeth did not set up our Communion as the model for all 
Christendom, but candidly confessed our own short-comings, coldness, 
and need of great improvements. The Evangelicals abhor the idea of 
recognizing the Primitive Church as a standard, since they regard the 
Sovereign Individual (provided he be an Evangelical) as superior to all 
the rest of Christendom ; whereas the Council of Lambeth recognized 
" the undisputed General Councils " as the unquestionable standard of 
the faith of the whole Anglican Communion. There is not a plank — 
not even a splinter — of the Evangelical platform left standing, by the 
action of that Council. Low-Churchism, word and thing, is utterly 
thrown overboard and done for. And there were enough Low-Church 
bishops there present to commit their whole party, and really to sign 
away, for all future time, its xoxy right to existence. 

But besides this positive action, there was something else. Colenso 
is a Protestant — a pure Protestant. He believes in private judgment, 
and in the Sovereign Individual. He declares himself a " Liberal " 
Christian — thus claiming the same distinctive word which L^nitarians 
delight in, and which The Protestant ChiircJiniaji has proposed to 
take as equally appropriate to its wing of nominal " Episcopalians," 
whenever the schism is complete. Perhaps, if they were to send for 
him, Colenso would consent to come over, from Natal, where he has 



Appeal dix. 333 

only two or three clergy and parishes to own him, and be the " Liberal " 
Bishop of the new " Liberal Church." They might agree happily in 
altering the Prayer-Book, for Colenso would heartily indorse the idea 
of the author of Revidenda that revision should proceed on " the prin- 
ciple of omission rather than of addition." " It is proposed to dimin- 
ish ^ he says, " rather than increase, the dogmatic assertions of our 
standards." Now before the meeting of the Council of Lambeth it 
was confidently stated that, in case of a schism, there would not be 
wanted among our American Evangelicals a sufficient number of 
bishops to keep up the Succession. But when they met at Lambeth, 
they jfound that Colenso was not invited, and did not dare to come. 
They found that although, from technical reasons growing out of the 
relations between Church and State in England, the Council was pre- 
vented from acting formally on the subject, yet that, on every ground 
except the Queen's letters patent and royal mandate, Colenso was 
utterly cast out, and no member of the Council would have anything 
to do with him. And American Evangelical Bishops could easily 
reflect that, in their case, there would be no " royal mandate " or 
" letters-patent " to impair or impede the universality and promptness 
of their rejection, in case they should go into a " Liberal " schism in 
these United States. Since that Council, therefore, we have seen no 
more public statements confidently claiming " at least three bishops " 
as ready to head the schism ; but privately we have heard of very 
edifying confessions that their Evangelical Bishops " came back from 
Lambeth with their mouths stuffed with cotton." It is certain that not 
the slightest semblance of encouragement has been given by any 
Evangelical Bishop to the notion of getting up a schism, Moreover, 
there is not a single diocese which would go, even if its bishop went ; 
and it does not appear that more than just one parish could be found 
to go with its minister, should he choose to become a schismatic. 

And now comes Mr. Cracraft, with his famous letter to Bishop 
Mcllvaine renouncing the ministry of the Church ; for, logically, here 
is the best place to mention it, and historically it brings us back from 
our Lambeth digression to a resumption of our sketch of the " agita- 
tion "which was to affect the General Convention of 1868. This letter 
appeared just after those two notable pamphlets — the Romanizing 
Germs and Revidenda. And it corresponds wonderfully with them in 
all their strong points, besides the additional interest of announcing an 
action in logical consistency therewith. 

Mr. Cracraft — who had been a priest in the Church for a quarter of a 
century or thereabouts, and a large part of the time in the Diocese of 
Ohio — writes to his " dear friend " the Bishop of Ohio, " asking to dis- 
solve his connection with the Protestant Episcopal Church," for sundry 
reasons. First, because " the plain, literal, and historical teaching of 
the Offices of the Prayer-Book " would make him to be " a priest, in 
the sacerdotal sense." " With me," he adds, " the conviction is irre- 
sistible that the , minister in our Church is considered a priest in this 
anti-Protestant sense." And he goes on to prove it. He next asserts 
that " the proper accompaniment of the character here defined is, I con- 



334 A Champiofi of the Cross. 

sider, obviously furnished — an altar ; " and he proves that — u'hich is a 
bitter irony on the Bishop of Ohio himself, whose most strenuous exer- 
tions of Episcopal prerogative have been directed to the denial that we 
have any Altar, and who has always refused to consecrate any church 
which had not, in place of an Altar, a wooden table, with legs. But 
regardless of the bishop's feelings, the cruel Cracraft goes on next to 
prove that the priest and altar are not without their proper Sacrifice. 
A portion of the Consecration Prayer, he says, " is expressly called the 
• Oblatio7i.' " And he pointedly continues : 

" All, I suppose, clearly understand oblation to mean an offering — 
a sacrifice. Taken in its 7iatiiral and historical sense, this oblation 
prayer can only be understood to teach that the Lord's Supper is not 
only a memorial, but a Sacrifice. In glancing back over this, we shall 
find, I think, fully presented, first, a priest, in the sacerdotal sense ; 
second, an altar, on which the sacrifice is to be offered ; and finally, an 
offering, to be presented to God in the sense of a sacrifice." 

Next he asserts that the priest has the " priestly /^w<?r of absolu- 
tion " ; which he proves with equal clearness. Then, as to Sacramental 
efficacy, he proves clearly that the Church teaches Baptismal Regenera- 
tion : " The sacramental theory — the outward sign and the inward 
grace essetitially coherent — is here fully sustained." As to the Sacra- 
ment of the Altar, he finds that in the Prayer-Book it "is authoritatively 
defined that the grace of this sacrament is the real presence of Christ 
Himself in the outward elements." And as to both sacraments, he 
says, " It is difficult to conceive how any language can more forcibly 
express a sacramental theory than that with which we are here pre- 
sented." 

Having thus come to clear views of the doctrinal teaching of the 
Prayer-Book, Mr. Cracraft honestly asks : 

" Can I longer perform Offices that I believe pronounce and teach the 
sacramental theory that I have so long thought I was opposing .''... 
I am convinced that the honesty and simplicity of the Gospel, in which 
I should be clothed, forbids it ; nor can I soothe my conscience on the 
subject. ... I must do violence to my convictions if I go forward 
and give my co-operation in the propagation and upholding of errors 
so vital and so dangerous to the souls of men." 

He considers first, indeed, whether it may not be his " duty to stay 
and combat error in the Church where it exists." For some time he 
thought it was ; but he had " only to consider the past to obtain a con- 
vincing answer." And he goes on remorselessly to say : 

" The unsatisfactory results thus far, I think, leave no hope for the 
future. The sacerdotal and sacramental theories have not paled before 
their combatants, nor become less potent in the Church from the 
assaults made upon them from the standpoint of the simphcity of the 



Appendix. 335 

Gospel, or the doctrine of salvation only by faith. The influences in 
the ministry and episcopacy of the Church are now, more than ever, 
thrown ponderously into the scale on the side of these errors. This I 
believe to be true of the Diocese which God has so long intrusted to 
your care. Who that contemplates your position, as one of the fore- 
most champions for the truth in this conflict, can fail to see that while 
the weapons of your warfare have been bright and glorious in this great 
struggle, you are yet girded about and hedged in by the influences 
which you have so long opposed ? And though not literally left alone 
in the conflict, yet so inadequate are the forces that act with you, in the 
episcopate and out of it, that your and their final subjugation is mani- 
festly only a matter of time." 

When reading Mr. Cracraft's glowing phrase about the " bright and 
glorious " weapons of Evangelical warfare, one cannot help wondering 
whether the same thing is referred to which we have found our other 
Evangelical writers describing as " mental reservation," " compromising 
honor and morality," using words i^n a " non-natural " sense, " teaching 
our children to lie," " a cancer on the face of truth," etc. 

The alternatives so loudly clamored for by those who devoted them- 
selves to the business of " agitation," namely, " Revision of the Prayer- 
Book, or Schism ! " were not unnoticed by Mr, Cracraft. " Some," he 
says, think that " a change can be safely anticipated in the Prayer- 
Book. Some even believe that a reconstruction of our Formularies 
can be expected at our next General Convention, and comfort them- 
selves with these hopes." But he quietly and conclusively adds : 

" The more discerning, I think, entertain no such expectations. The 
best informed are more than convinced, while hoping it may be other- 
wise, that the action of that body will but strengthen the hands of the 
Ritualists and Sacramentarians." 

And as to a Schism, he says : " I would say Amen ! to this with all 
my heart, but I cannot regard it as a well-grounded source of comfort. 
Others may." And he goes on, with cold-blooded and exhaustive 
logic, to show, that such a schism must be either with the Apostolic 
Succession, or without it. If without it, " few would organize for a 
higher and purer form of evangelization." And again : " Few would 
contemplate separation, unless Episcopacy, as of Divine appointment, 
and the consequent doctrine of Apostolical Succession, should be carried 
with it." The schism, therefore, without Bishops, " could have no 
numerical strength." But how would it be if the Schismatics have 
Bishops and the Succession ? 

" With these, in the workings of the great future, the same results, 
now giving all this unrest, would certainly be reproduced. These high 
claims lie at the .foundation of all anti-Protestant exclusiveness, all 
Churchly pretensions, all Ritualistic and Sacramentarian arrogance, 
and would render it, in the end, as much in the way of the march of 



336 A CJiampion of the Cross. 

mind, as much opposed to liberal institutions, religious unity, and Chris- 
tian fellowship, as the present structure now is, that they would try to 
improve." 

We never saw, from an enemy, a clearer recognition of the great 
truth, Ecclesia est in Episcopo. Wherever there are Bishops of the 
Succession, there the whole circle of Church doctrine, discipline, wor- 
ship, and usages, will return sooner or later. Even a Low-Church 
schism, going out with only Low-Church Bishops, would eventually 
come to raising the same fruit on the same old tree. So perish the 
notion of getting up a schism ! Without Bishops, it would be imprac- 
ticable ; with Bishops, it would be of no use. But the melancholy 
part of our last quotation is the confession that in breaking away from 
" the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth," 
the leadership which a schismatical Evangelical wishes to follow is 
(not the Bible, which is vulgarly supposed to be their object, but), first 
of all, " the march of mind," and next, " liberal institutions ; " in which 
Colenso, and all Unitarians and Neologians would precisely agree with 
him. But what can be a more complete sentence of death upon the 
Evangelical party, than his thus showing that all except " a few," even 
of that pai'ty itself, are so bewitched with the doctrine of the Apostolic 
Succession that they will not surrender it ; and that this doctrine which 
they thus hold, really implies all that the Church party claim ! 

With this stab under the fifth rib, given " most affectionately " to the 
Evangelical party by a conscientious Evangelical in a letter to his own 
" dear Bishop," the General Convention of 1868 met ; and it is not dif- 
ficult to perceive in its action how much effect all the " agitation " of 
the previous year had produced. 

The demands of the agitators were fourfold. 

First, a relaxation of the Canon on Intrusion, or what may be called 
the Tyng Canon. 

Secondly, a relaxation of the Canon against the ministrations of any 
but Episcopal Clergy in our Churches, which may be called the Hub- 
bard Canon. 

Thirdly, a Revision of the Prayer-Book, so as to take out the Germs 
of Romanism, or allow the Evangelicals to use alternative forms when- 
ever they did not like what is now required to be said. 

Fourthly, that something should be done to put down Ritualism, 

And they were totally defeated on all four. 

First, as to the Tyng Canon, which cost many more words than it 
was worth. Mr. Tyng himself was present, and remarkably active — 
every seat in the Convention being furnished gratuitously with a copy 
of the thick pamphlet containing the account of his trial. By a curious 
coincidence, the Church in which the debate and decision took place 
was the same in which he was " admonished " by his Bishop, in pur- 
suance of the verdict and sentence of the court. The greater part of 
the pertinacity shown in attempting to amend that Canon, had nothing 
at all to do with the Tyng case ; and of all the speakers on the floor 
during that long and repeated debate, young Mr. Tyng's course of 



Appendix. 337 

action was upheld, excused, or defended, by not one — absolutely not 
one. Instead of showing any disposition to nullify the law, even Ohio 
declared that in no Diocese was there a more honest determination to 
obey the Canons than in Ohio ; and yet where is there an " Evangel- 
ical " Diocese, if it be not Ohio ? The climax, however, came from 
Old Virginia, which used to be regarded as an Evangelical pillar as 
strong as Ohio. It was a clerical deputy from Virginia who showed 
the intolerable mischiefs which were sure to flow from practices like 
Mr. Tyng's, even when indulged in from the purest motives ; and by 
way of giving an inimitable touch to the satire of facts, he quoted at 
large a case that happened among the Presbyterians, where " preaching 
the Gospel " after that free-and-easy fashion had produced a local feud 
of seventeen years' duration, and had compelled the enactment of a 
rule among them which was the precise equivalent of our Canon, and 
is in force among Presbyterians to this day ! Mephistopheles himself 
could not have thought of anything more cutting than that. As might 
have been expected, the General Convention obstinately refused to 
amend the Canon at all, even when the advocates of some change had 
succeeded in gaining the reluctant consent of the Committee on 
Canons ; and the whole subject was " indefinitely postponed." 

Secondly, as to the Hubbard Canon. The feeling in regard to Mr. 
Hubbard was very different from that in regard to Mr. Tyng. There 
was about the former a simple-hearted earnestness, an amiable and en- 
thusiastic wrong-headedness, to which Mr. Tyng could lay no claim ; 
and the exciting scenes of the Revival going on about him at the time 
of his action, w^ere very different from the croquet-playing on Saturday 
evening which preceded Mr. Tyng's Sunday display before the Metho- 
dists of New Brunswick. Moreover, Mr Hubbard had saved all- possible 
trouble by agreeing to a statement of the facts ; and he had not yet 
been found guilty. The court did not announce its decision until long 
after the General Convention had adjourned. But the pleas urged in 
his behalf were well understood ; and, far from relaxing the terms of 
the Canon, the General Convention screwed it up a little tighter, and 
blocked with special care all the verbal rat-holes through which the Jes- 
uitical interpretations of Mr, Hubbard's friends had attempted to enter 
and eat out the heart of the Canon itself. This being done, it was of 
no consequence what the court should do with Mr, Hubbard ; and their 
letting him off because the framing of his presentment was a botch is of 
no importance to any one but himself. The hair-splitting technicalities 
by which alone he was acquitted will be of small comfort to a conscien- 
tious man, especially when viewed in the light afforded by the action of 
the General Convention. In this protracted and repeated discussion, 
too, the time and attention of the House were chiefly consumed by other 
amendments than those connected with the Hubbard case ; and among 
all the speakers, there was found to approve of Mr. Hubbard's course, 
not one. 

T/n'rdly, as to Prayer-Book revision, to afford relief to the Low- 
Churchmen. There was only one attempt to do this, during the whole 
Convention. A layman from Kansas moved to strike out, from the 



33^ A C J Lampion of the Cross. 

form in the Ordination of Priests beginning, " Receive the Holy Ghost," 
the words : "Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are forgiven ; and whose 
sins thou dost retain, they are retained." No sooner was the motion 
stated, than it was moved and seconded to lay it on the table ; which 
motion was instantly carried — apparently not a little to the surprise and 
indignation of the layman from Kansas. And so strong was the feeling 
against any such action, that, a few days after, that same layman, having 
the floor on another subject, took the occasion to explain that " it was 
not his wish that the Pra3'er-Book should be altered in any sense ;" and 
to cap the climax, it was a lay deputy from Vi'rgmza who moved " that, 
in the judgment of this convention it is inexpedient to alter the Book 
of Common Prayer." The only proposals for alteration that could even 
obtain a hearing, were from the other side ! On this subject, therefore, 
— the one on which the pamphlets had made their greatest efforts — 
their friends in the House were not strong enough even to make a fight. 
And how could they ? The pamphlets had expressed that, for two or 
three hundred years. Evangelicals, while claiming to possess the only 
pure and vital religion in the Church, had been constantly practising 
prevarication and equivocation, mental reservation, the using of words 
in a non-natural sense, compromising honor and morality, " teaching " 
their children " to lie " whenever they taught them the Church Catechism 
and so forth ; and that after doing all this most piously and pertina- 
ciously for two hundred years or more, their consciences were now so 
tender that they must have immediate relief, or they would surely 
plunge into schism. What a wonderful kind of piety it is, to be sure ! 
During all this time, by its own account, it has prevaricated, equivocated, 
compromised honor and morality, and what not, rather than commit 
schism ; but now it has changed its mind, and — its conscience being 
at present very tender — it will commit schism rather than equivocate 
and compromise honor and morality any longer ! It is hard that such 
true piety should be put to any such alternative as that. And it is no 
wonder that piety of so peculiar a description should not have been 
thought, by General Convention, worthy of special exceptional legis- 
lation. 

Fourthly, as to the putting down of Ritualism, the battle was longer 
and stronger, because the Evangelicals had many allies who by no 
means belong to their party. But even the combined strength was of 
none effect. The minority report, which condemned certain specified 
things by name, could not pass ; so those specified things are not con- 
demned. The majority report, which condemned certain general prin- 
ciples, without going into details, and thus could be made to mean 
anything or nothing, could not pass ; and thus no general principle of 
Ritualism was condemned. In the resolution adopted, not a particle 
of additional power was given to the Bishops beyond what they had 
before ; so that it amounted to just nothing at all. And in the Pastoral 
Letter, though a general phrase bore against Ritualistic excesses, yet 
when all the facts are weighed, its true worth will not be mistaken. 
The original draft of a Pastoral Letter, which spoke out against the 
Ritualists in a style that would have suited the " agitators," was thrcnun 



Appendix. 339 

out bodily. The attempt to pass the famous " Declaration " of the 
twenty-eight Bishops, as an act of the House of Bishops, /rt27<?(^.* The 
condemnation of erroneous views supposed to be taught by Ritualists, 
was so ingeniously framed as really to condemn errors that are held by 
nobody that we ever heard of. Viewed in this light the phrase con- 
demning Ritualistic excesses amounted to nothing at all. So on this 
point the defeat of the Evangelicals was as total as on any other. 

Nay, the course of events had all the effect of a practical joke turning 
universal laughter upon the opponents of Ritualism. For whereas it 
was supposed that some members voted to remove the sessions from 
Trinity Chapel (where it was very difficult to hear), chiefly to get rid of 
the mild Ritualism of a surpliced choir ; they found themselves, when 
moved, not only in the Church where Mr. Tyng was sentenced, but 
also before a beautiful white marble Altar, and a large Altar-cross be- 
tween two candlesticks with candles. And, on the very day when the 
decisive vote was taken, the feast of SS. Simon and Jude, there had 
been an early celebration at that Altar, with candles burning, and a 
goodly company of communicants present, some of whom were devoted 
Evangelicals a few years ago, but now^ rejoice that they have found a 
more excellent w^ay. There were few present who did not perceive 
and enjoy the exquisite irony of the position. And the beauty of it 
was, that it was entirely unintentional. The committee which selected 
the Church of the Transfiguration solely for its acoustic properties, 
had no Ritualistic leaning. On the contrary, when it was resolved to 
use that Church, one of them sounded the rector as to whether those 
articles could not be removed. His answer was very manly and 
proper. He said that if he had offered his Church to the General Con- 
vention, he should feel it his duty to make it acceptable to them ; but 
since they had come to ask him for the use of it, they must take it as 
they found it, and nothing should be removed. And so it was. And 
— except one passing allusion — the " Ritualism " which they had before 
their eyes was not unfavorably commented on during the whole of 
the discussion on the subject. 

As the Evangelicals were totally defeated in the General Convention 
of 1868 on all the four points they made, it was to be expected that — 
if they were consistent — a schism should startle the Church forthwith. 
The Moderates had persuaded the Radicals to postpone the attempt, 
in hope of some favorable action by the General Convention. That 
expectation was utterly, ignominiously, disappointed. The Radicals 
now had the argument all their own way. But the schism did not 
come. The House of Bishops, with a tender and politic regard for the 
feelings of the disappointed ones, on the last day of the session sud- 
denly made them a present of a Low-Church Missionary Bishop, whose 
election was carried in the Lower House. Instead of an outburst, 

* It is most gratifying to know that the debate in the House of Bishops 
on this subject was on both sides worthy of that House, and that the har- 
mony which in the end prevailed was in no small degree due to the wise 
churchmanlike counsels and touching appeals of the Presiding Bishop. 



340 A Champion of tJie Cross. 

therefore, there was an entire calm ; and that, too, although five new 
Dioceses were either admitted or consented to at that Convention, of 
w^hich the Evangelicals got not one. 

At the first anniversary of the Evangelical Knowledge Society there- 
after the Moderates felt so strong that an attempt was made to wipe 
out the damaging effects of the Radical pamphlets by a Resolution 
" that the work of the Society in largely publishing and circulating the 
Prayer-Book meets with the approval of the Society ; " and recom- 
mending also " the circulation of a compendium of its history, to show 
its source and its evangelical character." But if the Moderates were 
found to prevail in the General Councils of the Church, the Radicals 
had the mastery in their partisan gatherings ; and the resolution was 
so strongly objected to as reflecting on the author of the tract on 
" Romanizing Germs," that it was finally ivitJah-aivn. This was tan- 
tamount to an indorsement of that pink pamphlet by the party. 

It was not long before another pamphlet of the same kidney was 
issued from the office of The Episcopalian in Philadelphia, Prayer- 
Book versus Prayer-Book, in which it was stoutly denied that the dis- 
covery of Romanizing Germs was a sudden or a new thing. It said : 

" This discovery has not been sudden, nor is it of to-day. There are 
a great many in the Evangelical ranks who have been aware all along 
that there are certain words, expressions, and usages in the Offices, 
that, if taken in their natural a7id grammatical se7ise, would inculcate 
error. Impressed with this fact, they have never taken them in this 
sense. They have always explained them away. They were taught 
so to do at their Low-Church Seminaries. . . . Every Evangel- 
ical Clergyman remembers how his Theological Professor labored at 
expositions, e.g., of the Baptismal Service for Infants ; and to-day 
there is not one of them who will take up that service, and use certain 
expressions in their literal and grammatical sense." 

Tfiis reiterated charge of wholesale, deliberate, chronic, and consci- 
ous dishonesty in the use of our standard formularies, has never been 
disproved by the Moderates, and never can be ; and in this one fact is 
involved, really, the sentence of death on the whole Evangelical Party. 
The new Papal Dogma has " conquered History " only because the 
Pope excommunicates all who refuse to swallow it. The Moderates 
have no such power. If their true position were demonstrated only by 
their opponents, the proof might be resisted on the ground that it was 
due to party hostility ; but when the confession is made over and over 
again by their own friends, and the proof is published by their own 
presses, and sold over their own counters, and maintained triumphantly 
in their own partisan societies, and there is not even an attempt to 
gainsay it, the total extinction of that party among honest men is only 
a question of time. The Moderates will die strangled by the bowstring 
put round their necks by their Radical friends ; and the Radicals — 
honest and outspoken as they are — will cease to exist, because by their 
open confession it is clear that they hold certain notions which were 



Appendix. 341 

never held by any branch of the Church in any age or country, and 
are irreconcilably opposed to Holy Scripture as interpreted by the 
Primitive and Undivided Church — nay, they clearly refuse to accept 
certain parts of the Catholic Creed of Christendom itself. We have 
given the more space to those pamphlets for this very reason. From 
the time of their appearance and acceptance by the leading organs 
of the party, that party has been like a little fish left at high-water 
mark on a sand-bank by the receding tide ; not yet dead, but sure to 
die. Its subsequent acts are but like the spasmodic yet vain endeavors 
of the little fish to jerk itself back again into the water, but which only 
exhaust it the sooner by wearing out its small remainder of life among 
the drying sands. 

' The Radicals, knowing the logical strength of their position in their 
own party, now determined to force the fighting, and called the Chica- 
go meeting for the following June (1869) — their object being to commit 
the whole party to the policy of " Revision or Schism." Not one of 
the Low-Church Bishops, however, belonged to the Radical party. 
Lambeth had cured them, if there were any who really needed the 
cure ; and before that meeting, the Bishop of Ohio issued a letter (to 
w^hich we shall refer again), candidly acknowledging that the "soul- 
destroying heresy of Baptismal Regeneration " (meaning thereby that 
persons baptized in infancy were sure of salvation without ever experi- 
encing either repentance or faith in their later years), was not, and 
never had been, held by High-Churchmen at all. He earnestly op- 
posed the Revision policy. Nearly all the Evangelical Bishops took 
the same course ; so that while The Episcopalian was exhorting its 
friends to observe the 1 5th of June as a day of extemporaneous prayers 
for the Chicago meeting, " that its deliberations may result in setting 
us free from whatever taint of Popery or error may lie in our Prayer- 
Book," that same paper admitted that all who went to that meeting 
would go " without the approval of their Bishops." 

After all the noise made in advance, the Chicago meeting was a ridic- 
ulous failure, there being only some thirty members present, clerical 
and lay, and not a Bishop among them. The President was a layman ; 
and even in this small squad, the President on taking his seat utterly 
denounced the idea of a schism, with only the causes which then 
seemed to lead to it. " This," he said, " was not a meeting for such a 
purpose. He could never have been one to attend a meeting for such a 
purpose." A clerical speaker declared that " Secession was no remedy 
for the evils they deplored. Enlightened Christianity already groaned 
under the weight of secessions and separations." It was evident that 
their alternative of "Revision or Schism" had already lost its latter 
half, and the true alternative was. Revision or — nothing at all. 

But the Radicals — short of a resolution to secede — had everything 
their own way. One Clergyman declared that " for twenty-four years 
he had never used the Baptismal Service without a certain qualm of 
conscience in regard to its phraseology ; and men older than himself 
stood in the same position, and were within hearing of his voice." Dr. 
Newton said, that " if a Clergyman were to be deposed because his 



342 A CJiauipion of the Cross. 

conscience would not allow him to use the word ' regenerate ' in the 
Baptismal Service, they would not long have to wait for an opening out 
of their difficulties." Dr. C. W. Andrews confessed that " the great 
blunder of the English Reformation " was the construction of the Bap- 
tismal Service \vith this " regeneration "in it (and, if we remember 
aright, he showed on another occasion that Low-Churchmen had in- 
vented no less than seven different modes of explaining it away, but 
none of them was entirely satisfactory). A layman's remark, that they 
did not contemplate secession, but that they did contemplate " being 
driven out," was received " with cheers." On the contrary, resolutions 
pledging loyalty in all matters of " faith, doctrine, worship, long-estab- 
lished rites, ceremonies, and usages of the P. E. Church, as our bright 
and uncompromising Protestant Apostolic inheritance," were not only 
declared to be out of order — the offerer being interrupted divers times 
while speaking — but the Rev. Mr. Cheney went so far as to " hope that 
those resolutions would not be suffered to go before the public." Mr. 
Cheney's remarks, in view of his subsequent course (his presentment 
was formally made four days after), are well worthy of note : 

" When the young men now demanded revision, they but followed 
out logically what the Bishops had taught them in other days. He saw 
the students of Alexandria and Gambler, and they were almost unan- 
imous for revision. The men who had been taught by Bishops Mc- 
Ilvaine and Johns were unanimous for revision. As Bishop Mcllvaine's 
Letter [against revision] and character had much influence in the com- 
munity, it seemed proper that they who demanded revision should put 
themselves right. ... As for himself, he was not going out of the 
Episcopal Church. No man could put him out. He would tight out 
the battle in the Church ; and if they all left him, he would climb to 
the mountain-top of communion with his God, and claim that he was 
the Episcopal Church ! " 

The meeting ended in passing four resolutions, ist, in favor of Re- 
vision (it appeared that the Offices of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy 
Communion, Ordination, and Institution were all to be altered) ; 2d, to 
agitate, agitate, agitate ; 3d, that their Evangelical " American Church 
Missionary Society should extend its work to Foreign Missions, or 
another new Society should be started for that purpose ; " and 4th, in 
favor of uniting with outsiders in the Bible Society and other "great 
national institutions." 

The advocates of " schism " were naturally somewhat disgusted ; and 
one of them pointed the moral of the Chicago failure by renouncing 
the ministr}' of the Church. The letter was written close upon the 
adjournment of the Chicago meeting ; and the difficulty in his mind as 
to Baptismal Regeneration was thus expressed : " I cannot consent to 
address God in my prayers in terms which would be falsehood if I 
used them in my preaching." Bishop Mcllvaine answered it, displac- 
ing him according to Canon, but adding : " I cannot but have a sin- 
cere and affectionate sympathy with you in your circumstances, nor 



Appendix. 343 

will I withhold the expression of my regret that in the chief cause of 
your action the laws are what they are. I am decidedly in favor of 
some change in the Prayer-Book, so that by some change of words, or 
some provision of other optional words, the difficulty in your mind 
may be avoided." 

A change came o'er the spirit of the dream of other Evangelical 
Bishops also, about this time. Among the Radicals whom they had 
so successfully embarrassed or baffled at Chicago — for even the secular 
press laughed at the smiallness of the meeting, and the inability of the 
little company of thirty to agree entirely among themselves — among 
this small number, we say, or those who sympathized with them, were 
men of great importance. And when Mr. 's private chaplain " se- 
ceded," and Mr. 's private chapel no longer was reckoned as part 

of the Diocese of Ohio, and it was found that wealthy laymen were 

likely to sympathize with Mr. , the Evangelical Bishops, with the 

wisdom of the serpent, began to take a somewhat different view of the 

situation. Bishop , in his second letter to Bishop Mcllvaine on 

the subject, says : " We cannot afford to lose those from our ranks who 
are decidedly and conscientiously in favor of certain liturgical changes 
and modifications ; " and he is therefore willing to advocate some revi- 
sion of the Prayer-Book in order to keep them — to make, indeed, large 
suggestions of revision ; but not that he felt the need of any change 
himself. By October, significant intimations from Ohio were published, 
showing that Bishop Mcllvaine and Bishop Bedell — and probably 
other Bishops — had come to the conclusion that " the principle of omis- 
sion ox alternate phrases'' vciv^X. be extended to the Baptismal Ser- 
vice. At least, it " was seriously contemplated, even by those highest 
in authority and influence." It was plain that the Radicals could not 
be ignored. They were too strong and too important for that. They 
were evidently bent on a general rally, too, at the first occasion ; and 
they must be met on their own ground, for a trial of strength. 

In November, therefore, at the annual meetings in Philadelphia, there 
was a pitched battle between the Moderates headed by Dr. Alexander 
H. Vinton and the Radicals under the leadership of Dr. Cotton Smith 
— the Bishops carefully keeping themselves out of the fray. Dr. Vinton 
was the Chairman of a Committee of Observation, which had been ap- 
pointed " to discover the duties of the hour, and the means of discharg- 
ing them." As Chairman, he made a brief verbal report, in which he 
stated that the Committee had unanimously agreed to report that " they 
had nothing to suggest, and nothing to say on the subject assigned to 
their consideration " — which was not only cool, but rather contempt- 
uous. As one of the Radical organs described the effect of it, " This 
announcement startled the large number of Clergy and Laity present, 
and excited a great deal of feeling. It was hard to determine whether 
disappointment, amazement, or disgust predominated." Notwithstand- 
ing the assertion of unanimity. Dr. Cotton Smith, one of the Commit- 
tee, presented a minority report, proposing the organization of an 
Evangelical Brotherhood, the details of which were read by the Rev. 
Dr. Muhlenberg. Discussion became lively. It was proposed to re- 



344 ^ Champion of the Cross. \ 

\ 
commit the subject to the same Committee, that they might sit again, 
and think better of it. But that was speedily rendered impossible, for 
one member after another rose and resigned his place on that Commit- ■ 
tee. 

The debates were very sharp and protracted, the Moderates doing 
the larger part of the talking, and the disagreements were as marked , 
as possible. No more stunning contrarieties have ever been developed j 
in any discussion between High and Low Church, than were here j 
uttered among Low-Church themselves. Mr. Cheney denounced the I 
two Canons (the Young Tyng Canon and the Hubbard Canon) in \ 
strong language, declaring that a failure to recognize non-episcopal | 
ordination as " a divine ordination," or a failure to accord to it " true j 
validity " was " a sin against the Holy Ghost ! " Dr. Vinton, on the j 
contrary, said that Evangelical men could not be united in the effort to | 
repeal those two Canons. He added that " some Evangelical men pre- j 
fer the Prayer-Book as it is, and have a way satisfactory to themselves j 
of explaining away its language. Their consciences do not trouble ! 
them. They will never join in any effort to revise a word or line of the 
Liturgy. . . . much less will they ever fight for a new Prayer- 
Book." But while the discussion on Revision was going on vigorously, 
it leaked out, and began to be whispered round, that the Evangelical 
Bishops had made up their minds, at a private meeting just holden in 
New York, to change front on the subject of Revision. At length the i 
statement was openly made on the one side, and flatly contradicted on | 
the other ; and as the dates of the differing informations given to the J 
two sides were as near together as to day and yesterday, one may ' 
easily understand how sharp the skirmishing was. i 

But the Radicals were right. The Evangelical Bishops knew per- 
fectly well that their best milch kine were on the Radical side of 
the house, and they must do something to encourage them to let ' 
down their milk ; for if these magnates should desert to the Presby- 
terians, what would become of the exchequer ? " Justification by faith 
only " could not be expected to risk a loss of three or four truly pious | 
millionaires at one fell swoop. The Circular of the Nine Evangelical 
Bishops was already in type at the very time the Moderates were con- ■ 
fidently denying the possibility of such a thing. ■ When the meeting ' 
came to a vote, the Radicals carried their resolutions in favor of " a j 
full and thorough revision of the Book of Common Prayer," by the I 
handsome majority of 74 to 46. Moreover, rejoicing in their strength, 1 
they passed another Resolution calling on the Nine Bishops to " con- j 
sider whether there be grounds for presenting for trial any Bishop or 1 
Bishops who may be alleged to hold, and to have taught. ... ; 

doctrines contrary to those held by the P. E. C, with the view of hav- 
ing the real doctrines of our Church affirmed and settled by the ' 
authority of its highest judicature." This was more than the Nine 
had bargained for. After this resolution had been footballed through \ 
the newspapers for some months without doing anybody any harm, < 
one of the Nine, endorsed by another of the Nine, published a letter ^ 
showing the utter absurdity of the idea, and especially, that the calling 



Appendix. 345 

on the whole Nine to engage in the business rendered it practically an 
impossibility. Indeed, the impotence of this trial - shot was only 

laughed at from the first ; and the Bishop of must have had some 

difficulty in keeping his face straight long enough to write a serious 
answer to the proposal. The Episcopalian newspaper, however, could 
not see the joke ; but fairly boiled over with " bitter disappointment 
and provocation," and gave the Bishops some " plain talk, some strong 
and blunt Saxon " — hoping that its proposed new " Reformation will 
not stop till complete Revolution is made in the Constitution of the 
Church — until every vestige of Prelacy is swept away ! " which is very 
likely, seeing that no change can be made in that Constitution without 
twice receiving the vote of the House of Bishops itself ! 

But to return : soon after the November meeting the Circular of the 
Nine Bishops was in everybody's hands. In it, they kindly provided 
both for the Moderates and the Radicals. As Moderates themselves, 
they say : " We have always been fully persuaded that our formularies 
of faith and worship, in their just interpretation, embody the truth of 
Christ, are warranted by the teaching of Holy Scripture, and are a 
faithful following of the doctrines professed and defended by our 
Anglican Reformers " — which is very fair, old-fashioned, High-Church 
doctrine. But they find " very serious indications of a state of mind 
among many of the Clergy and Laity. . . . contemplating action 
most earnestly to be deprecated" \i.e.,schism\ And it had become 
" painfully evident that many in our Church are so burdened and dis- 
tressed in the use of certain expressions in our formularies " that some- 
thing ought to be done " in brotherly kindness and charity for their re- 
lief." The result was, that '' if alternate phrases or some equivalent 
modipcation in the Office for the Ministration of Baptism of Infa7its 
were allowed, the pressing necessity would be met, and a measure of 
relief would be afforded, of great importance to the peace and unity of 
the Church." The Circular concluded by hoping that " the next Gen- 
eral Convention " would have such " large-heartedness," etc., as to 
" consent to the relief already indicated." 

It was not many days, however, before the Bishop of New York sent 
out his noble Pastoral in reply to the Nine. Its note rang out like a 
trumpet, giving no uncertain signal for battle : and every sensible man 
knew from that moment, if he had not known before, that the giving of 
any such " measure of relief " was about as likely as to see the sun rise 
in the west. With a perseverance akin to despair, however, the Radi- 
cals in their organs, pamphlets, agents, etc., went on " agitating " and 
getting memorials signed, to be sent in to General Convention, and 
comforted themselves with the dream that something would surely be 
done this time. Thus the little fish, after a desperate twitch of its own 
tail, gets, from the height of six inches above the sand, a momentary 
glimpse of the retreating sea, and believes that in just a few minutes it 
will escape the dry death, and bathe once more in the waters of life all 
over ! 

Meanwhile, a very different part of the same great battle was being 
fought out in a very different way. At every turn of the contest, the 



346 A Champion of the Cross. 

Evangelicals brought up the Ritualists as their great grievance, after all. 
They could not see why, if Ritualists who believed the standards of the 
Church in their plain literal sense were tolerated, the Radicals could not 
be tolerated also in denying them. It was a queer parallel to run, to 
be sure ; but then those brethren have a queer way of putting things, 
now and then. Their parallel lines generally cross one another at right 
angles. And there were many among the Moderates and among the old- 
fashioned High-Churchmen who thought that, by a combination among 
themselves and the Radicals, the Ritualists could be put down once for 
all, and then all the rest would be "a happy family" — as it was well 
known they had always been before. Accordingly, in a very quiet way, 
preparation was made, in the General Convention of 1868, for a cam- 
paign in that direction. The list of offences for which a clerg}'man may 
be put on trial was — with very little remark — altered, by inserting " any 
act which involves a breach of his Ordination vows " — just for sym- 
metry, as it was urged, because this was already one of the things for 
which a bishop could be tried, and therefore it ought to apply also to 
priests and deacons. It was put through under old-fashioned High- 
Church leadership, but — as it seemed to us at the time — by a sort of 
tacit mutual understanding with brethren on the other side, who, if they 
had thought the edge of the new enactment was to be turned against 
themselves, would have made the air vocal with the most sonorous re- 
monstrances and protestations. But if it was meant only for the Ritu- 
alists, they had no objection. 

Hardly two months after the adjournment of the General Convention, 
and actually before its Journal was published, the Bishop of Ohio began 
to put it in operation against one of his clerg}', who was guilty of the 
enormity of having a surpliced choir and processional hymns : which 
things the bishop assured him were "against the laws and usages of 
our Church ; " informed him that this was his bishop's " godly judg- 
ment " to which he had vowed obedience ; called his attention to the 
new legislation of General Convention making him liable for trial if he 
disobeyed ; and summoning him, in fine, to instant surrender. Not a 
little noise was made when people began to see the operation of this 
innocent-looking, " symmetrical " change in the Canon ; and when able 
counsel from other dioceses came on to help the faithful Ohio brother 
to fight the battle, old-fashioned High-Churchmen from New York 
came out with a pamphlet to sustain the intolerable tyranny attempted 
in Ohio, thus strengthening the impression that a mutual understanding 
had existed from the first in regard to the whole campaign. We shall 
do nothing more than merely allude to this subject here. It is, by it- 
self, more than enough for a whole article. But nothing is more intol- 
erably preposterous than the assumption that any and ever}-thing a 
bishop chooses to say to one of his clerg}^ is " a godly judgment " or a 
"godly admonition," which is to be implicitly obeyed at once on pain 
of punishment. Bishops are not all wise men. All bishops are not 
equally wise at all times. It is a conceivable case that the command 
given by a bishop should be, in point of fact, not " a godly judgment." 
but an ungodly want of judgment ; and what becomes of the vow of 



Appendix. 347 

Canonical obedience then ? If it is not a supposable case that a bishop 
should show an ungodly want of judgment, how can we possibly justify 
our opposition to the Bishop of Rome ? Or how can we prove that the 
Bishop of Rome is not quite as likely to be infallible as the Bishop of 
Ohio? 

But to continue our sketch of facts. The first court organized to try 
the Rev. Mr. Tate broke down of its own accord, on the first day, be- 
cause a clergyman had been appointed as one of the court who was not 
eligible according to the Canons of the diocese. The Diocesan Con- 
vention then greatly altered the Canon, restricting the number from 
whom the court should be drawm, and giving the bishop the power to 
appoint the president of the court. A new court was thereupon as- 
sembled, and after four days' debate about its own existence, declared 
itself dissolved, owing to irregularities in its own formation, and prom- 
inent among those alleged was the fact that the bishop had wrongly 
excluded one name from the drawing, so that the selection was from 
twenty-three names instead of from twenty-four, as the Canon required. 
The laugh at this double break-down w^as getting to be rather severe 
upon Ohio ; but it was mingled with indignation when letters written 
for the pubhc by the president of the court (appointed by the bishop), 
revealed the fact — with apparently an utter unconsciousness of its 
turpitude — that the majority of the court had made up their minds to 
condemn Mr. Tate before hearing a word of evidence in the case, and 
had likewise settled that his sentence should be " suspension from the 
ministry ! " If this is a specimen of the " godly judgment " of Ohio, 
what a wonder it is that we do not all render implicit obedience at the 
first word of command ! " Obedience can never be wrong," may be 
the voice of Ohio ; it is also the voice of the Jesuits calling upon all 
" Catholics " to submit at once to the Infallibility decrees of the Coun- 
cil of the Vatican. Both doctrine and practice are pure Ultramontane 
Popery. 

Mr. Tate finally, of his own accord — as he had professed himself 
willing to do from the first — yielded to the bishop the two points of 
ritual objected to by him, but under protest as to the bishop's views of 
law, couched in these words : " Claiming for myself, that, while using 
them I conscientiously believed, and still firmly believe, that I have 
violated no law of the Church or vow of my Ordination : " — a protest by 
no means satisfactory" to the bishop. And the hornet's nest of troubles 
likely to grow out of the attempt to crowd down the throats of the 
clergy by main force these new" views of " Canonical obedience " and 
" godly judgments," has been found sufficient to prevent any similar 
attempt in any other diocese. In the only other where there was a 
probability of it, the bishop very wisely stopped short of attempting an 
Ecclesiastical trial ; and the ill-feeling found vent in that meanest and 
most sneaking method of manifesting ill-will — the refusing to admit 
into Convention the laity of a parish whose clergyman is unpopular, 
but whom they cannot put upon his trial for any Canonical offence. 

The attempt to put down Ritualism in that way has thus proved to 
be a ridiculous abortion. 



348 A CJiauipio7i of the Cross. 

But ecclesiastical trials are a two-edged weapon, and one edge may 
cut deep while the other is too dull to cut at all. The Cheney case was 
the poetical response to the Tate case. The latter began early in Janu- 
ary, 1869; the Cheney case was not begun until some months after- 
ward ; so that if there was any cry of " persecution." it was an effective 
reply to ask : " Who began it?" While the Radicals were holding 
their ridiculous little meeting in Chicago, of thirty persons, the prepara- 
tions were being completed ; and four days after it adjourned, the pre- 
sentment was made. And there was no break-down on the part of the 
court. After every possible resource of tactics was exhausted, including 
injunctions from the civil courts, carried up to the highest court in the 
State, the result came at last ; and he who had defiantly courted dis- 
cipline from the first, was formally and canonically deposed from the 
ministr}' of the Church of God. 

It was a fatal blunder on the part of the Radicals. It will be remem- 
bered that at their little Chicago meeting, the idea of their being " drh'cn 
out of the Church " was received " with cheers." Mr. Cheney's resist- 
ance and defiance of the clear and unquestionable law of the Church, 
was intended to bring down upon him a punishment which, it was 
calculated, would be sufficient to "fire the heart" of the Evangelical 
clerg}^ and laity, and thus rush them into a secession. The attempt 
was made ; but it failed. A few clerg\"men went to Chicago to officiate 
for Mr. Cheney during his preliminary suspension. Circulars of " moral 
support " — so-called — were signed and circulated (about sixty clerical 
names, we believe, formed the longest list ; but there were several 
millionaires among the laity). As an agitation of any magnitude, 
however, the thing fell dead. It is one thing to suffer as a martyr : 
another thing to suffer as a mere wilful breaker of the law. Mr. 
Cheney played for the former stake, but won only the latter. The 
general verdict, even among his own party, is, " Served him right." 

We must now go back once more to take up another dropped stitch. 
At the little Chicago meeting in 1 869 it appears that there was a Com- 
mittee on Revision formed (or already existing), of which the Rev. Geo. 
E. Thrall was the chairman, there being ten members in all. This 
committee were to go to work in good earnest to revise the Prayer- 
Book, which was accordingly subdivided among them in sections, and 
they wrote to their friends in all quarters asking to be informed " what 
were the alterations which they desired." This looked Hke business, 
and saddles the party with a hea\y share of responsibility for the ulti- 
mate result. One of the speakers, however, was blunt enough to say, 
that " however this revised Prayer-Book might please themselves, it 
was questionable whether it would gratify the General Convention. 
He wanted to know whether, if such a book was prepared, they were 
ready to stand or fall by it. He thought that Evangelical Christians 
would rally to their support." This was the beginning of the move- 
ment which resulted in the new Unio7t Prayer-Book which made its 
appearance last summer — about that period of the season when dogs 
do most generally run mad. There never was a clearer illustration of 
the old adage, Quern Deiis vidt perdere, priiis dement at. 



Appendix. 349 

That book is the best ever sent forth by the Evangelicals, because it 
is the most honest. It goes further, and does better, than even the 
Radical pamphlets from which we have quoted so largely. Its beauties 
are too numerous to be exhausted, should we give a whole volume to 
their contemplation. But we shall specify only two points, as the best 
of all. 

So long as the Evangelicals accepted the standards of the Church, 
and claimed to hold them in their true historical sense, it was a work 
of no little difficulty to convince them clearly of vital error. Their 
views might be mixed, or muddy, or ill-balanced, or defective, or a 
variety of other things : but it was rather hard to call them heretical. 
And so long as they were not clearly heretical, it would have been a 
violation of charity to call them so, no matter how firmly we might 
have been persuaded of the fact ourselves. 

Now nothing is more unanimously agreed on among all branches of 
the Catholic Church, than that it is heresy to deny any part of the Cath- 
olic Creed — that Creed which has been accepted everywhere, always, 
and by all. If the Union Prayer-Book, therefore, wished to keep any 
character for orthodoxy, it would have left the Creed untouched. But 
its compilers were happily too honest for that. They have omitted 
from that Creed two things, which show where the root of the whole 
difficulty has been from the beginning. Their opposition to Baptismal 
Regeneration is found, not only in their baptismal office, where we 
should have expected to see it of course : but they have omitted en- 
tirely from the Creed the words, " I acknowledge one Baptism 
FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS." This is an open confession that their 
baptismal difficulty is due to their being heretics in denying an article 
of the Catholic Creed ; and that they know it. In like manner, their 
other great point, of the validity of non-episcopal orders, is really due 
to the fact that there is one of the Four Notes of the Church as con- 
tained in the Catholic Creed, which they do not believe in. Accord- 
ingly the honest and intelligent compilers of the Union Prayer-Book 
have utterly omitted the work Apostolic as a descriptive title of the 
Church : which is flat heresy again, openly and unblushingly pro- 
claimed before the whole world. 

On publishing this precious book, two clergymen, with consistent 
honesty, renounced the Ministry of the Church, and then, on the first 
Sunday of September, set up a meeting-house of their own, with their 
new book : and awaited the great sensation that should result, when 
all the Evangelical Denominations of Protestants should flock to their 
standard. Alas for the vanity of human expectations ! A few articles 
in the papers, and these bold heretical heroes were forgotten ! The 
Protestant denominations went on quietly as before, just as if nothing 
had happened : and within a few months, an unpaid mortgage turned 
one of them out of his new brick meeting-house into some Hall, and 
the other slipped into some agency or other in order to eke out a 
living. 

But this was a beautiful preparation in September for the General 
Convention that met in October. Such an unanswerable manifesta- 



350 A Champion of the Cross. 

tion of the real nature of the evil that had been painfully festering in 
the Church for so long, and had at length come to such a head as the 
heretical Union Prayer-Book, was death to all hopes of " Revision," 
or " omission," or " alternate phrases." Some still kept a stiff upper 
lip, and whistled loud to keep their courage up, and memorials were to 
be forwarded in numbers nobody ever knew how great. But the Nine 
Bishops who had committed themselves to the idea that General Con- 
vention would grant " this measure of relief" were in a very awkward 
predicament, knowing their game to be hopeless, and not seeing how 
they could escape an ignominious failure. 

AH these circumstances must be taken into consideration, in order to 
be able to estimate truly the meaning and weight of the Declaratiojt 
on Baptismal Regeiieratioji which has so wonderfully puzzled our 
newspaper commentators. 

The Nine knew perfectly well that it was utterly idle to attempt Re- 
vision, or alternate phrases, or to touch the Prayer-Book in any way 
likely to please their friends. Nothing that came within ten miles of 
that sort of thing would be looked at for an instant in the Lower House, 
to say nothing of the Upper. The Bishops " went into council " on 
the matter, therefore — shut out their own secretaries, banished their 
door-keepers below stairs, shut their windows, stuffed the key-hole, 
barred the bottom of the stair-case — and then began to talk over the 
situation. The Nine begged piteously that something — however 
slight — should be done, to get them out of their predicament. If they 
went home without anything, they would lose their hold over their 
fractious people, who had been making this long disturbance about 
their consciences, and nobody knew how much mischief would happen. 
The Nine were evidently in a very tight place, and in danger of a heaxy 
fall : and their brethren, after long debates and much persuasion, con- 
cluded to try and agree on something which would " let them down 
easily," as the phrase is, and break no bones. Several forms of Dec- 
laration were discussed, but were open to the serious objection that 
they might be supposed to mean something definite. At last, this 
danger being avoided as wholly as is possible in human language, 
they sent forth the following, in a shape which binds nobody : 

" We, the subscribers. Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
the United States, being asked, in order to the quieting of the con- 
sciences of sundry members of the said Church, to declare our convic- 
tion as to the meaning of the word ' regenerate ' in the Offices for the 
Ministration of Baptism of Infants, do declare that, in our opinion, the 
word ' regenerate ' is not there so used as to determine that a moral 
change in the subject of baptism is wrought in the Sacrament." 

And the Pastoral Letter, after quoting it, goes on to say that " This 
declaration was made in the loving hope and confidence that many con- 
sciences might thus forever be freed from false impressions, which have 
been prevalent, concerning the teachings of the Church as respects spir- 
itual religion and personal piety. . . . Baptism does not supersede 



Appendix. 351 

the necessity of repentance, of justifying faith in Christ, growth in 
grace, and in that ' holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.' " 
Now, after reading this over very carefully, let us go back to the 
letter on the subject published by Bishop Mcllvaine more than two 
years before, to see what new comfort— if any — has been gained by 
the Evangelicals in this " Declaration " of the House of Bishops. In 
that letter, addressed privately to a Clergyman at the East, who was 
disturbed by the cry for " Revision or Schism," and published in reply 
to the urgent request of many, Bishop Mcllvaine says, first of all, that 
the fault found with the Prayer-Book might as well be found with the 
Bible itself : 

" Is not the need of explanation in some parts of the Prayer-Book, to 
prevent erroneous impressions, the result of the closeness with which 
they copy the very words of Scripture, without explanatory comment } 
For instance, the words in the ordination of a Presbyter, to which so 
much objection is made — are they not almost the very words of John, 
XX. 22, 23 } and do they not need as much explanation as they stand in 
his pages, as they do in the Prayer-Book ? " 

This is clear and satisfactory, and unanswerable as against the " Re- 
vision or alternate phrases " which he and the rest of the Nine subse- 
quently asked for. But next, as to the terrible error which the Evan- 
gelicals have all along professed to be so horribly afraid of, but which 
nobody that we know of has ever held or taught, the Bishop of Ohio is as 
clear and strong as possible — far more so indeed than the Declaration 
of the House of Bishops. Speaking of regeneration as a moral change 
— the being " transformed by the renewing of the mind " — the Bishop 
says that it " is not found inseparably connected with Baptism, either 
adult or infant, by any, eve7t the most advaiiced teachers of what is 
currently called Baptismal RegeneratioTt. . . . Others, as Roman- 
ists and Tractarians, while applying to Baptismal Regeneration the 
most exalted language, reduce it to the being sacrament ally united to 
the Church as the incarnation of Christ and depository of His grace, 
and so made partaker of Him. To bring forth the fruits of the Spirit 
is no necessary evidence of that regeneration. / k?iow of no class of 
ivriters in the Anglican Church who find the regeneration of all in- 
fants in Baptism in the sense of an implantation of actual goodness — 
that is, a goodness which, as the child grows in age, will produce the 
fruits of righteousness : " and he then quotes Bishop Bethell, and Moz- 
ley at some length, showing that what Evangelicals so commonly and 
obstinately insist that their opponents teach on this subject, is a " tre- 
mendous contradiction of experience," rendering Baptism " an un- 
meaning, absurd, and incredible abortion." 

Now compare this clear, vigorous, sweeping, outspoken language of 
Bishop Mcllvaine in 1869, with the cautiously guarded " Declaration " 
of 1 87 1 : and it will be found that the only semblance of an idea con- 
tained in the latter is precisely the same that was boldly and fully set 
forth in the former. What, then, have the Evam^elicals crai7ied? 



352 A CJianipion of the Cross. 

They have simply gained the privilege of the Japanese aristocracy — the 
honor of dying by their own hand. It is said — we know not how cor- 
rectly — that the form of opinion signed by the Bishops as their " Declara- 
tion " was in reality drawn up by the Rev. Dr. Andrews — the same 
who at Chicago declared that the putting of the word "regeneration" 
into the Baptismal Office was " the great blunder of the English Ref- 
ormation ; " — the same who declared in the autumn of 1870 that 
" Baptismal Regeneration is the cancer of the Church," and that " there 
can be no peace until it is revised" out of the Prayer-book; the same 
who published a pamphlet showing sevoi different ways of interpreting 
Baptismal Regeneration as meaning no Baptismal Regeneration, and 
declaring that none of them all was satisfactory : this same Dr. Andrews, 
it seems, is the one to draw up the mild, watered-down " Declaration " 
of 1 87 1, which is a confession, on the part of the Evangelicals them- 
selves, that all the hard things they have said on this subject, for gener- 
ations past, against High-Churchmen, Tractarians, and even Roman- 
ists, are slanders ; that all the fault they have found with the Prayer-Book 
itself on this subject is groundless ; and that nobody has been to blame 
for all the trouble but their own narrow, blind, intolerant, obstinate 
selves. All the Evangelical Bishops united in asking for this precious 
paper. They begged hard for it. They promised faithfully that, if 
their brethren would only give them this precious " Declaration," they 
would go back to their dioceses, and tell their friends who had the 
tender consciences that this was all they ought to ask, all they could 
expect, and that they must be contented with it, and be good quiet boys 
for the future. And when it was all but unanimously signed — every 
Evangelical Bishop setting his name to it — their friends everywhere 
smiled and sang and shouted as if they had gotten a victory ! Bishop 
Mcllvaine himself was so delighted that he writes of it, " We could 
hardly believe our senses." 

But what has been the practical effect of it ? Has it put new life into 
the Evangelical party? Were there any evidences of such a result 
thereafter, in either House .^ Not at all. Not a lisp was heard in 
either House — not even a motion was made in any way whatever em- 
bodying any of the old Evangelical watchwords. The Low-Church 
partisan gatherings ceased. A calm as of death settled on the whole 
Evangelical business. The party was as quiet as a Japanese gentle- 
man is after he has accomplished " the happy despatch " — called in 
their language ha7'-i-kai^i. The previous condition of the clamorous 
little party was like that of a loud-winged insect, transfixed on the pin 
of a naturalist and fastened tight to a board, whence for hours the air 
is filled with the noise of his restless but useless buzz : until at length 
a drop of sweet oil, judiciously applied to its head, changes its mind so 
suddenly that it " can hardly believe its senses," but is thenceforth con- 
tent to buzz no more. 

In plain words, the Evangelical party, as a tactical element in our 
Church politics, is henceforth dead ; and it is the " Declaration " that 
gave it the coup de grace. From the moment of its appearance, that 
party disappeared, and was absorbed bodily into the old High-and-Dry 



Appendix, 353 

party, the object of union being war upon the Ritualists. A letter of 
Bishop Cummins furnishes their motto : " Toleration of Ritualists is 
treason toiuards God ; it is ruin to the Church^ So far was this dis- 
position for entire unity carried on the spot, that some of them threw 
out most tempting intimations that the separate partisan Societies, 
which are the darling jewels of the Evangelicals, would be given up — 
amalgamated with the general Institutions of the Church — if only some 
legislation against the Ritualists could be carried. So far indeed are 
their hearts weaned from delighting m the solitariness of those partisan 
" voluntary Societies," — which have heretofore been their special joy, 
their pride and their boast, their banner of defiance and their citadel of 
strength — that their change of manner was so striking as to be now 
and then amusing. The Bishop of Lichfield was addressing the Board 
of Missions one evening, and the salient point of his speech was a 
glowing commendation of the American Church for avoiding " volun- 
tary Societies," and committing her whole mission work, and all her 
other branches of practical operations, to organic instrumentalities, 
under the high sanction of the legislative power of the Church. His 
commendation was in reality a censiire upon the whole theory and 
practice of the Low-Church party for twenty or thirty years past ; and 
all that time the Bishop of Ohio had been one of the leaders of that 
entire policy. Yet during that admirable speech, the venerable Bishop 
of Ohio sat within two feet of the speaker, listening with a calm pla- 
cidity of countenance truly beautiful : and when the speech was ended, 
the Bishop of Ohio — the senior Bishop present — rose, and moved " the 
thanks of the Board to the Lord Bishop of Lichfield for his admirable 
and instructive address " ; and the vote was, of course, unanimous, nor 
were any complaints made by anybody. It was a worthy companion 
picture for the Altar-scene in the Church of the Transfiguration in 
1868. 

In what we have said, we would not be supposed to omit disingenu- 
ously a reference to Bishop Mcllvaine's letter, printed in the London 
Record, giving his account of the way in which that " Declaration " 
business was transacted, and what the document really means. We 
do not wish to criticise a venerable Bishop needlessly : and therefore 
we take it for granted that, while writing parts of that Record letter, 
the good Bishop totally forgot the other letter he had written on the 
Baptismal question (quoted above) in 1869. On no other hypothesis is 
some of the language of the Record letter capable of any explanation 
whatever. 

It so happened that we were in Baltimore on the day when that 
" Declaration " was sent down to astonish the Lower House and every- 
body else. We met one of the Bishops who signed it and asked him 
what it meant } He said it meant just about nothing at all. We 
asked him then. Why were not the Bishops content to say just noth- 
ing at all? He replied, that the Nine were in a very tight place, and 
pleaded so earnestly for something, no matter how little, with which 
they might pacify " tender consciences," that they had not the heart to 
refuse them. We then asked, Why they did not send the Nine to the 

23 



354 ^ CJiampion of the Cross. 

Catechism, where they would have seen that the " Repe7itaitce whtr&hy 
they forsake sin, and Faith whereby they steadfastly believe the prom- 
ises of God made to them in that Sacrament " are things that infants 
" cannot perform " by reason of their tender age : but that they are 
things which, " when they come to age, themselves are bound to per- 
form ? " He laughed and said that that was, of course, all that the 
" Declaration " meant ; but that if the Evangelicals were content with 
a Declaration that manifestly meant nothing more than was in the 
Catechism already, it was " their own lookout." We replied, that we 
thought the House of Bishops ought to have had mo7'e respect for 
itself than to put forth a solemn Declaration which was either a truism, 
or would seem to mean something that was never intended. He ad- 
mitted it ; expressed strong dislike of the whole thing ; said that he 
had been unable to sleep the night after signing it, owing to the uncom- 
fortableness of his reflections ; but that it was purposely put in a form 
that could bind nobody ; that it was the shortest way out of a difficulty 
that troubled some of the brethren ; and he was confident that as it 
meant nothing, and was worth nothing, it would soon die and be for- 
gotten. He was not the only Bishop whose signature of that document 
cost him a sleepless night and uncomfortable thoughts of his head 
upon his bed. But the account he gave of the business was about cor- 
rect : and it is not worth while for either friend or foe to value that 
negative " opinion " at more than it is worth. 

The Low-Church party, as a tactical element in Church politics, has 
now, as we have said, ceased to exist. There are only two parties left 
in the field : the High and Dry or Old Fogy High-Churchmen and the 
Advanced or Catholic party on the other. So rapid is the movement 
among us, that those who, a quarter of a century ago, were thought to 
be dominant in both Houses of General Convention, are now — no- 
where : while the Catholic party — then not strong enough to be known 
or felt — are now, in the very first General Convention where the lines 
have been drawn in the new^ place, strong enough to defeat the fresh 
and formidable combination against them in a pitched battle, and will, 
before many years, command a full working majority in both Houses. 

But though dead as a tactical element in our Church politics, it must 
not for a moment be supposed that the Evangelicals as individuals, as 
a school, as a clique, have disappeared. By no means. They have 
able men, strong parishes, societies, seminaries, newspapers, wealth in 
abundance, and a certain amount of liberality and zeal : but they have 
no future to look forward to, except that of further decay. They may 
build up Institutions, and endow them : but, in a few years, those In- 
stitutions will be ours, endowments and all. They may organize new 
parishes : but before long those parishes will be found to have sound 
Church rectors, or may need to call in even a» Ritualist to prevent a 
death of inanition. They may educate and bring into the Ministry 
under Evangelical auspices many young men : but the irritating and 
insulting pledges as to " opinions " required of such men before they 
can draw their pittance — a narrow policy growing narrower by judicial 
blindness — is the best possible preparation for a change of ecclesiasti- 



Appendix. 355 

cal position as soon as they are in self-supporting parishes of their own. 
Such changes are taking place from day to day : and the Evangelical 
leaders know it. 

We have alluded more than once to the extraordinary bitterness and 
violence of language used by our leading Low-Churchmen concerning 

their brethren in the same household of faith. Dr. 's well-known 

speech will not be forgotten: that he would " as soon put his feet 
within the pale of hell, as in a ritualistic menagerie," and that the 
Church party are " frogs and lice," and the " children of the devil," 
while the Evangelicals are "the children of God." The author of 
" Romanizing Germs " says of the doctrines of the Church : " They 
result in an ecclesiastical organism, in an exclusive priesthood, in sacra- 
mental efficacy, in patristic authority ; which are to our eye the sure 
signs of spiritual death, the marks of a candlestick whose light has gone 
out, of a Church that has a name to live but is dead. . . . Roman- 
ism, like a subtle poison, is coursing through our body ecclesiastic. 
Racking pains, partial paralysis, intestinal ulceration, general debility, 
testify of the poison's hold and power." The author of Revideiida 
calls it "muffled Popery," and The Protestant C/iurck7na7i dtscnh&s it 
as being " a development of the sacerdotal system, until it is essentially 
that of the Church of Rome." But no matter how strongly they may 
declare the Church to be " dead " with this Romanism, it is clear that 
they do not mean it ; for they do not disguise their anxiety to continue 
in organic unity with all this false and " deadly " doctrine, yea, even 
with the extremes of Ritualism itself. The author of the " Romaniz- 
ing Germs " says, after claiming full liberty for his own friends : " if 
it be urged that the Ritualists would make the same demand, we say 
heartily in reply. Let their demand be granted. If we are to have in- 
deed a comprehensive Church, let all shades of thought be free to 
develop themselves." All they claim is, a little more liberty for them- 
selves within her bosom, and there they are content to remain. They 
profess to desire no breach of that Church Unity which now so sweetly 
binds together the living and the dead. But when a living man really 
is bound to a corpse, he is not of such a contented spirit. He does not 
declare that he will remain bound, and that nobody shall loose him. 
He does not quietly limit his aspirations to one additional thickness of 
paper betwixt himself and the corpse. It is evident, therefore, that the 
Evangelicals are once more using language in a non-natural sense. 
They may now and then be coarse and violent, or even vulgar in their 
mode of expressing themselves ; but it is only " pretty Fanny's way." 
They are not really so truculent as their language seems to indicate. 

They are, indeed, our Ecclesiastical Bourbons— they learn nothing, 
and they forget nothing. They go on repeating like parrots the same 
phrases which were their favorites from thirty to fifty years ago, utterly 
unconscious of the vast change of circumstances, which has affected them 
quite as much as any others. They have adopted, one after another, a 
great number of .things which at first they vehemently denounced as 
" Romish," and which — in others — they vehemently denounce still, un- 
conscious of the laughter of their contemporaries. Was there ever a 



356 A Champion of the Cross. 

more complete change of place on the part of two bodies of comba- 
tants, than there has been since the publication of Tract No. 90? Then 
there was a universal Protestant chorus against the Tract, as dishonest, 
evasive, Jesuitical, as involving mental reser\'ation and the use of 
words in a non-natural sense ; and our Evangelicals vaunted them- 
selves as the only honest men in the Church, who alone held our 
standards in their true sense — the ver}' sense of the Reformers who 
made them. Now, however, the tables are completely turned. With 
a matchless genius for blundering, the same columns of the same 
pamphlets still boast of being the sole representatives left among us of 
the true views of the Reformers, while side by side they record the con- 
fession, which the controversies and researches of the past few years 
have wrung out of them, that " the Reformation, as taken up and for- 
warded under Elizabeth's auspices, could not have been radically 
Protestant, nor the Liturg}% its written expression, altogether free from 
Romish taint ; " that it was the express object of that arrangement to 
retain the Papists in the communion of the Church of England ; and 
that for a time it was successful in accomplishing this object, for 
" Papists ' repaired to their parish churches without doubt or scruple,' 
and priests officiated at the parochial altars ; " that since the adoption 
of the Articles in 1571 "we have ceased to be Protestant" touching 
the op2is opc7-atuin in Baptism, and that " baptismal regeneration was 
the prevailing belief among all classes of theologians for years after the 
Reformation ; " while, moreover, " the Baptismal service being at the 
foundation of the Ritual and Liturgy of our Church, we find all other 
parts of the ecclesiastical system built upon it, and in more or less har- 
mony of design." And having made these discoveries, it is further 
cheerfully confessed by the Evangelicals that they must " accord to the 
sacerdotal party entire conscientiousness of conviction. Their doc- 
trinal views doubtless seem to them in entire accordance with the Bible 
and the Book of Common Prayer : " while, in the same breath, these 
Evangelicals, these former paragons of honesty and straightforward- 
ness, these haters of mental reservation and equivocation, these abhor- 
rers of the iniquity of using words in a noii-natiiral sense, shriek out in 
the torture of a wounded conscience the confession that they are in the 
constant habit of perpetrating all these abominations, while their oppo- 
nents, against whom they have been launching false and furious accusa- 
tions for thirty years past, have all the while been honest men, who 
understand Holy Scripture in the same sense as did the Primitive 
Church, and who interpret the standards which have come down to us 
from the Reformation, in the very same sense that was meant by the 
Reformers ! 

Yet these changes of party warfare have a meaning much deeper and 
larger than their relations to local struggles. The present state of 
things is one result of the great tidal wave which has for more than 
half a century being steadily sweeping upward from the depths of 
eighteenth centur\' latitudinarianism and degradation, and still bids fair 
to keep on. until the Reunion of Christendom shall bless the now di- 
vided hosts of the Church Militant, and this whole world shall be con- 



Appendix. 357 

verted unto God. In its frantic violence of language, and its wilful 
blindness to the facts that are going on about us, the dwindling and 
helpless remnant of the Evangelical party is like a man, who, within 
closed shutters and by the light of a farthing dip, is loudly and pas- 
sionately demonstrating to the uneasy handful about him, that the 
house they are in is immovably anchored on the rock, and is therefore 
safe amid the darkness of night and the raging of the storm : while, if 
he would but open his shutters and look out, he would see that the 
mighty freshet had long ago lifted his little shell of a house, and that 
he has already floated down many miles on his course toward the 
great Sea, which is One : while the outgush of a glorious Dawn would 
render his farthing dip useless for the purpose of giving light, and he 
would hardly like to keep it burning as a " symbol " of the brilliance of 
the errors which have so long deluded him ! 

If logic, or reason, or consistency, or historical knowledge — if the 
convincings of opponents or the confessions of friends — had any real 
mastery over the Evangelical mind, it might safely be set dowm from 
henceforth as done for. But the little that is left of it may well rely 
upon its proved ability to set all these at defiance. It will, indeed, dis- 
appear from its former prominence in the Councils, of the Church. The 
party which once had all New England, except Connecticut, now has 
not a single diocese there that it can call its own. In the Middle 
States it has only Pennsylvania, and by no very strong majority. The 
new Diocese of Central Pennsylvania was secured by the Moderates, 
by the turn of a feather, the new Bishop receiving the votes of several 
High-Churchmen : and in two or three years the control of that diocese 
will be in other hands. In the South, outside of Virginia, they have 
nothing. And in the West, the vote in the Cheney case tells us that 
even Ohio is not secure ; while Iowa and Kansas are not to be per- 
manently depended on ; and Nevada has not yet been admitted. This 
is positively all : and there is no prospect of any further gain for them 
in the future. As an element in Church legislation, therefore, they 
have, as we have said, become extinct already. Ichabod, Ichabod ! 

But, as individuals, as parishes, as cliques, they will last for some 
time to come. The doctrine of justification by faith only, without 
works, is always welcome to a certain proportion of the rich and fash- 
ionable congregations in our large cities. Wherever a popular preacher 
can announce " a pure Gospel " of that sort to sinners in their rented 
pews, when the united annual incomes of those sitting in the middle 
alley alone would amount to from five to twenty millions of dollars, it 
will be antecedently probable that that congregation will be Evangel- 
ical. 

Moreover, it must never be forgotten that the Church is steadily ab- 
sorbing large numbers from the denominations around ; and that, too, 
from the force of many concurrent causes which have nothing to do 
with careful reading or conscientious conviction. Causes social and 
political, causes intellectual and aesthetical, and many others, are con- 
stantly bringing to us numbers who — for a time at least — have no reason 
for the faith that is in them, except that the Drift has landed them 



358 A Champion of the Cross. 

among us. Such persons will for a long time be ruled by the popular 
Protestant prejudices of the country : and so long as they neither read 
nor think, neither feel nor care, they will naturally perpetuate what has 
heretofore been called " the Evangelical party." There must be a low- 
est form in every school : and the Church is a school. There must 
always be an "awkward squad " at every recruiting station : and the 
Church Militant is an army, which cannot hope to recruit its ranks 
with those only who are able to serve like trained veterans from the 
outset. But, as a great party struggling hopefully for the mastery 
within the Church, the old Evangelical party is dead, dead, dead. It 
came to its end at the General Convention of 1 87 1 . Were strict jus- 
tice to be done, the coroner would sit, and the verdict would h^fclo de 
se, without any suspicion of " temporary insanity." But this would be 
rather hard on so religious a party, and would, by the rubric, deprive it 
of Christian burial, which would be a pity. We, for our part, shall 
therefore make no objection to the milder return of " Died a natural 
death," or " by the visitation of God " — whichever the surviving friends 
may prefer. And, notwithstanding its morbid antipathy, while living, 
to the idea of prayers for the departed — we love it well enough, after 
all, to inscribe affectionately upon its tombstone — May it rest in peace / 



THE CATHEDRAL SYSTEM IN THE CITY.* 

(The regular quarterly paper, read at the meeting of the New York 
Ecclesiological Society in January, 1855. By the Rev. John H. 
Hopkins, Jr., M.A.) 

When one who is thoroughly imbued with the fundamental principles 
of the working of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church from 
the beginning, examines the theory of our present Church constitution, 
he finds the main features of the structure all in their right places. No 
general canon can be made without the consent of the Bishops. Each 
Bishop is ex-officio President of his own Convention. No Priest or 
Deacon can be made except by him, nor received ordinarily from one 
diocese to another, nor transferred from one parish to another, without 
his sanction. No parish can be organized, and no Church consecrated, 
but by him ; nor can any permanent parochial connection be formed but 
by his authority. Generally, too, where there is any organization for 
Diocesan Missions, he has substantially, if not formally, the appoint- 
ment of the stations and the nomination of the missionaries ; and the 
same is the rule under our general Missionary Board. Thus the glorious 
old Church axiom, Ecclesia est in Episcopo, and the resulting rule, 
Qvhlv x«P'i- 'Ettio-kottoi; — nothing withoitt the Bishop — seem to be 
theoretically the life and soul of our whole ecclesiastical system. But 
when we look at the practical position of the Church we discover that 
much of this theory is only theory, and is to be found nowhere except 
on paper. We do not find that the Bishop is the centre of all the visible 
fabric of the Church. We do not see how he well can be the soul of 
the Church's practical life and action. We see nothing whatever that 
can insinuate even a suspicion that the Bishop is the essential embodi- 
ment of Divine Power in the Church. This may seem strong language ; 
but let us look 2^1 facts, and see whether they do not justify it. 

What constitutes a diocese, as the word is popularly understood 
now ? A number of parishes, with priests and people. The parish 
churches are prominent fabrics. They speak for themselves. The 

* This article is very much condensed from the original. There is also, 
in the journal of the Ecclesiological Society, a companion article on the 
cathedral system in rural dioceses. Dr. Hopkins wrote many articles on 
the cathedral system (especially as to New York City, in the early years of 
the Church Journal), and he used to say that not less than twenty millions 
should be expended on the cathedral, and its endowments for all purposes. 
He believed that the ideal place for it in New York was on the high ground 
between the Harlem and East Rivers. 



360 A Champion of the Cross. 

parish priest is always to be heard of by inquiring for him at or near 
his Church, If there be a Bishop, what difference does it make in the 
appearance of the diocese ? None at all. The Bishop has no church 
of his own, except he be also a parish priest ; and then he serves at the 
call of a vestry, and is more or less under their control, like any other 
priest. Here, in New York, many miles off we can already see the 
spires of the parish churches, and their splendid fabrics stand proudly 
forth on our chief thoroughfares ; but where is the Bishop's Church } 
He has 7ione. When not actually engaged in his canonical visitation, 
he appears to have no business in any Church, except by invitation or 
permission of its Rector. Every man in the ministry seems to have a 
local habitation and a name, except himself. We beg pardon ; he may 
have a local habitation. By diligent inquiry, or by searching the di- 
rectory, the stranger finds his way down some obscure side street, and 
in the midst of a row of houses he may find one which bears the Bish- 
op's simple surname on the door-plate. It is near no Church, and is 
just across the way from a Presbyterian meeting-house. It has little 
or no convenience for the special hospitality enjoined upon every Bish- 
op at his consecration, being only a residence, like that of any private 
gentleman. There is, in fact, no cxterjial circumstance whatever to 
distinguish the position of our Bishops from the so-called itinerant 
bishops of the Methodists, except that, in public official ministrations, 
our Bishops wear expensive robes of black satin, and lawn sleeves with 
ruffles round the wrists ; while the Methodist Bishops officiate in citi- 
zen's costume. Of all the great body of the Church in its manifold 
connections, there seems to be no one person or thing either depend- 
ent upon the Bishop, or set in motion by him. And those stated du- 
ties to which he is specially pledged — hospitality and constant preach- 
ing of the Gospel — appear to be made by his peculiar circumstances 
specially impossible. Even when he ordains, it must be in somebody 
else's Church, and by permission of its Rector, for he has, as we have 
already said, no church of his own. The same ostensible anarchy 
reigns throughout all the practical working of the Churches. One So- 
ciety has its headquarters here, another there. For Diocesan Missions 
you go down to Water Street. For General Missions you go up to 
the Bible House. For Bibles and Prayer-Books you go over to Thir- 
teenth Street. For other Church books you must repair to Broadway. 
There is no visible connection with the Bishop in anything, nor with 
each other in any operation. It would seem as if the object were to 
scatter the strength of the Church as much as possible ; to avoid, by 
all means, the setting the candle in a candlestick ; to shrink from 
placing the city on a h\\\ for fear people should see its strength, and 
unity, and beauty ; but rather to sink its several fragments among the 
waves of the w^orld's life ; to smother it away in holes and corners, 
that it may be kept " out of sight, out of mind," as much as possible. 

Now, how is it that a theory which is instinct with such central 
strength, unity, and beauty, on paper, has slidden into such slovenli- 
ness, indifference, and disjointedness — such miserable weakness, 
awkwardness, and inefficiency, in practice } It is, in fact, one of the 



Appendix. 361 

many ill results of the Popish corruption and Erastlan malpractice, 
that have so largely tainted the channel through which our historical 
Church has descended to us from the Apostles of our Lord. Both 
of these disturbing causes have so far marred the magnificent vigor 
of the Church's own primitive plan, that it could now^ hardly be rec- 
ognized any more were it not that features which have long been 
changed in every outward seeming, have still been retained, faithfully 
traced upon our paper system, if nowhere else. 

The corruptions of Popery during the Middle Ages laid the founda- 
tion for all the mischief that has since followed. Bishops then be- 
came entirely too worldly in their character. They were Barons more 
than Bishops, and chief Princes rather than chief Pastors. Non-resi- 
dence was the prevailing vice among mediseval Bishops. Whether on 
political affairs at the capital of the country ; or engaged at Rome in 
ecclesiastical intrigues for translations and pluralities, or promotions of 
one sort or another ; or in some part of the multifarious proceedings 
which were always attracting men and money to the papal court ; a 
Bishop's own diocese was often, of all Europe, the part which was 
least likely to see anything of his Lordship. And when he was in 
residence for a brief space, it w^as ten to one that the secular business 
of his Barony, or getting in his revenues, occupied nearly all his time. 
Besides which, in very many cases. Bishoprics were conferred upon 
those who, from youth or incapacity, could perform none of the 
functions of a Bishop, except taking and spendmg the income of the 
See; or upon those whose high office at the court of either king or 
pope would not permit a residence in the diocese. The See, in such 
cases, was conferred only as the most convenient mode of making a 
present, to a prosperous courtier, of a handsome income, with little or 
no duty attached. 

As the inevitable consequences from all this things went sadly to 
waste in nearly every diocese. The priests and the people learned to 
do with Bishops as they do in France with things which it is impossi- 
ble to procure. They did without. And w^hen the head was thus un- 
happily out of the way, of course, confusion and disorder reigned 
among the members. It was easy for one wealthy monastery after 
another to gain from the Pope an exemption from its Bishop's visita- 
tion and control : for the monks were always willing to pay a very 
handsome price to the Pope for such a piece of parchment ; and the 
Bishops generally cared too little, or knew too little, about their own 
dioceses to oppose it. Nay, this practice increased to such an extent, 
that at last, it invaded even the ancient citadel and stronghold of a 
Bishop's personal and unquestioned power — his Cathedral. Here, in 
primitive times, he used to reign supreme, with his priests and dea- 
cons and deaconesses and minor officials about him, like the general 
of a great army — a true captain in the Church militant— surrounded by 
his staff, and by all the means for the readiest and most efficient ac- 
tion with the rank and file. Yet even here, constant absence and 
obstinate neglect on the part of prelates wrought their inevitable re- 
sult. The Dean and Chapter gradually encroached upon the preroga- 



362 A Champion of tJie Cross. 

tives and powers of a man who was never on the spot to look after 
either his own interests or their duties. One by one they absorbed 
them all ; and finally the sanction of the Pope was purchased, as usual, 
to legalize their usurpation. Thus at last it came to pass, that a 
Bishop was as much a stranger in his own Cathedral as he was to his 
diocese at large. It was often years before he was consecrated, unless 
it were necessary legally to enable him to obtain the temporalities. 
And, when consecrated, it was often years before he went down to his 
diocese to be enthroned in his Cathredral ; after which he was off again. 
It was no wonder that the Dean thus came to be in fact the Bishop of 
the Cathedral, while the Bishop himself, except on certain set occasions, 
might have the doors of his own Cathedral shut in his face, and have 
no redress against the legalized insubordination of his own official. 

The Reformation in England mended many — very many — matters 
which had gone abominably out of the way before, both in faith and 
practice. The Cathedrals, however, received no benefit except on 
paper. They were all well plundered to begin with. They received in 
return amended sets of statutes, which recognized all the chief pur- 
poses (with one exception) for which they had originally been so mag- 
nificently designed. These were the constant daily singing of the 
public ser\^ice of God in the most solemn and beautiful manner, by a 
competent Chapter of clergy well trained in divinity and sacred music, 
and with a competent choir ; the deliver}^ of sermons and lectures more 
diligently and attractively than in any other Church ; the keeping a 
competent School, in which the singing-boys should be trained in all 
good learning, and thence forwarded to the Universities so that they 
should be in due time admitted to Holy Orders ; for which latter purpose, 
also. Divinity lectureships were to be maintained at the Cathedral, In 
addition to which provision was made for the maintenance of a certain 
number of veteran soldiers, who had been wounded or maimed in the 
King's wars. There are beautiful things about these old Cathedral 
statutes, which show a thorough comprehension of their original in- 
tent, and their great power for good ; and the weight of these obliga- 
tions was bound down likewise upon the consciences of Deans and 
Chapters, with sanctions as solemn as the Latin language was capable 
of expressing. But one mockery and one omission spoiled all. The 
mockery was the confirming to the Dean and Chapter their old right 
of electing the Bishop of the Diocese ; while at the same time by the 
ingenious contrivance of a Letter missive sent with the Conge d'elire, 
backed by the statute of Praemunire, they were sure to have their 
goods confiscated, and be themselves banished the realm, if they dared 
to choose any person as Bishop except the one whom the king himself 
recommended to their mechanical suffrages. This enormous abuse 
continues to the present day, and has been the chief cause, perhaps, 
why such a great gulf often exists between an English Bishop and his 
diocese. The mockery of an election was made worse by the omission 
to restore to the Bishop his ancient powers in his own Cathedral. The 
Dean and Chapter were left in undisturbed possession of that abnor- 
mal independence which had been so corruptly acquired during the 



Appendix, 363 

Middle Ages through the usurpation and venality of the Popes, the 
ambitions of Deans, and the unprincipled indifference of the Bishops. 
The consequence of which is, that most English Bishops have even now 
as little power in their own Churches as their predecessors had before 
the Reformation. They appear there to be enthroned, and on certain set 
occasions ; and they have the legal power of Visitors : but as to the prac- 
tical conduct of its affairs, or the regulations of its services, the Bishop 
has in most cases no more to say than the humblest Deacon in his dio- 
cese. Nor has he any power in the nomination of even his own Dean ; 
nor yet, in some cases, of even a single member of his Chapter. These 
dignitaries are generally appointed by the Crown — like himself ; and 
generally, too, from political considerations. And with such utter in- 
difference to the original purposes of the foundation have these nomi- 
nations often been made, that although all the Cathedral clergy are 
bound to sing their part in the choral service, men are not unfre- 
quently appointed who cannot tell one note of music from another, or 
who perhaps never even tried whether they could hum a tune or not 
until after they received their appointment. It became customary 
therefore to get a set of second-class clergy to do the singing, while 
the first-class dignitaries took the fat incomes ; the Minor Canons 
being kept on starvation salaries, I suppose, because empty vessels are 
best for sound. 

With Dean and Chapter thus appointed and thus exercising the 
duties of their office, it is no wonder that great decay and demoraliza- 
tion have attended these magnificent foundations. The Great Rebellion 
put them all through another extensive plundering, besides great dilapi- 
dations of their fabrics as well as their fortunes. As the prices of 
property rose and the value of money fell, however, the remnants of 
the old estates yet left began to yield rich incomes once more ; where- 
upon the Deans and Canons, who held supreme control over the cor- 
poration purse-strings, took care to keep the poor Minor Canons and 
choristers and choir-boys and organist and schoolmaster, all down to 
the original number of shillings and pence ; while they shared among 
themselves the multiplying thousands of pounds of annual income. 
The poor old soldiers soon disappeared, and have never been heard of 
since. The preachings became few and far between, and of the prosi- 
est specimens of thoroughly educated dulness and classic orthodoxy. 
The divinity lectures have hardly even been heard of, time out of mind. 
The schools have dwindled miserably, and in some Cathedrals exist only 
in name. The choir-boys are often contemptibly few in number, un- 
disciplined and scandalous in their demeanor and irregular in their 
attendance. What wonder is it that, with a cathedral system so utterly 
perverted as this, the worship should become a dull, lifeless, listless 
routine, often executed with such mercenary eye-service, such heartless 
indifference, and such shameless slovenliness, if not profanity, as to 
alienate wholly the affections of the people, if it did not drive them 
in sheer disgust to the dissenting chapel, or the Wesleyan field-preach- 
ing, or anywhere in fact, where there seemed to be something like ear- 
nestness in preaching the gospel and something like heart-worship in 



364 A Champioji of tJie Cross. 

singing the praises of God. The only wonder is, that so many genera- 
tions of these unconnected abuses have not altogether swept the Ca- 
thedral s^'stem from the English Church. There have been several 
premonitor}' warnings, indeed, of this ultimate result, if the Deans and 
Canons do not repent and do their first works. And we are happy to 
say that there are many decided symptoms, within the last few years, 
that they will at last wake to something like a sense of their duty. 
Whether or no it will come in time to prevent their magnificent founda- 
tions from being hopelessly ruined by the result of their past sins, yet 
remains to be seen. 

We need hardly say, after this sketch of the Cathedral System in 
England, that we are no advocates for the transplanting of that corrupt 
system, or anything like it, to the soil of these United States. Indeed 
the thing would be impossible, because so many of its greatest abuses 
are intimately bound up with the existing connection between the 
Church and State there — a connection which, thank Providence, is 
utterly out of the question here. But, nevertheless, we have inherited 
not a few of the evil results of the English system, and these are they 
which produce the visible and undeniable practical anomalies of which 
we complain. The disjointed and shambling way of getting through 
the manifold business of a great diocese is a direct inheritance from 
the Church of England of the last and deadest century. In many re- 
spects, indeed, we have, from circumstances, much amended our pat- 
tern. In others, we seem to be in danger of acting like the Chinese 
tailor and making the unsightly patch to be an essential feature in our 
idea of a new coat. Thus the very common and very popular notion 
that a Bishop must have no church of his own, but must spend all his 
time in the visiting, or in the direct ser\'ice of his Diocese, is founded 
on two errors. The first is, that a Bishop having a church of his own 
(that is, a Cathedral) must perform in it precisely the same duties that 
an ordinary priest performs in his parish. The second is, that a Bishop 
ought to have a diocese so large that it will take him all the time, from 
one year's end to the other, to get round all his parishes ; whereas, the 
Bishop's Church is for essentially different objects from those of ordi- 
nary parish churches, as we shall presently show. And our Bishops — 
especially if, as is our almost universal practice, they are to be married 
men, ought to be allowed to remain at home a sufficient portion of the 
year to rule their own houses well and to exercise that hospitality which 
is one of the indispensable duties of their office, but which they cannot 
well exercise when they are constantly away from home. 

No. In this respect, as well as in many others, it is our bounden 
duty to go back to the primitive system of the Church and take our 
pattern thence ; and we shall thus find that what is earliest and purest, 
has likewise most of true power for the furtherance of God's work in 
the Church, because freshest from the hands of those who had the 
vjisdom of the serpent as well as the harmlessness of the dove ; and 
who left, upon the whole of the fabric, whose foundations they laid so 
wonderfully well, the most unquestionable proofs of their extraordinary 
clear-sightedness and common sense. 



Appendix. 365 

Let us then briefly sketch what the Cathedral system ought to be here 
in New York — a city of which it may truly be said that there was never 
before seen anywhere in Christendom so great a city as this is, with- 
out its Cathedral. And in making our estimate for. its wants, we will 
not ask it to rank higher than some second- or third-rate provincial town 
in the Middle Ages, with its fifteen or twenty thousand inhabitants. 

In the first place there should be a Church — the Bishop's Cathedral 
Church — cruciform in its plan, with area far larger than any other 
Church in the diocese. It ought to be able to accommodate on great 
occasions — perhaps with the aid of a light, movable iron gallery, and 
also of its triforia — at least eight to ten thousand worshippers ; with a 
chancel capable, when well filled, of holding five hundred — Bishops, 
clergy, choristers, and choir-boys. This should be the Church in which 
all Diocesan Conventions should meet, all regular ordinations be held, 
all consecrations of Bishops performed (when in this city), as well as 
all great anniversaries of Church societies, and all great general celebra- 
tions of Ecclesiastical occasions. The vast area of its nave and tran- 
septs should be forever free from the pollutions of bargain and sale. 
Its lofty walls should never re-echo to the sound of the auctioneer's 
hammer. Here in daily Morning and Evening Service should be cele- 
brated, with all that the loving care and zeal of men and human art can 
do, to make it measurably worthy of being regarded as a sacrifice unto 
the most High God : and having, therefore, also a sweet savor among 
men. On Sundays and Festivals there should be additional services, 
in the early morning, and later in the evening, or at such other hours 
as shall be found most convenient for those who cannot attend at the 
more ordinary times. At least from twelve to twenty-four Priests and 
Deacons should be appointed to the stated service of this great Church, 
all, or nearly all, of whom must be competent to take their part in the 
choral service. These should form the great body of city missionaries, 
each two having their peculiar district assigned them, in which they 
should daily visit from house to house. The Four Principal Persons 
— as they were called in the old cathedral foundations — might be mar- 
ried men, of greater age and experience, in receipt of larger income, and 
more permanently attached to the Cathedral than the rest. These four 
were the Dean, the Precentor, the Chancellor, and the Treasurer. 
The Dean, under the Bishop, held the chief rule, and the cure of souls of 
all within the precinct. The Precentor held charge over the Musical 
service. The Chancellor was the lecturer in Divinity — the principal 
instructor of the Candidates for Holy Orders. The Treasurer ad- 
ministered the temporalities, and took care of the Fabric, for which pur- 
pose it was needful that he be well skilled in architecture. In smaller 
cathedrals, some of these different offices might be combined in one 
person ; but in the larger, the four should be filled, each by a man of 
full ability and energy. These four, whose permanence is necessary to 
the best interests of the institution, should have sufficient income for 
the maintenance of wife and family ; but the remainder of the Cathedral 
Clergy should be " young men and unmarried, living in common, in a 
common house, and at a common table. The term of their service 



366 A Champion of the Cross. 

should have a hmit as a miJiimiwi — say two or three years ; after which, 
whether as Priests or Deacons, they might be transferred to parish duty, 
and be free to marry, if they pleased. This plan would insure a con- 
stant succession of younger and more energetic life in the service of the 
Cathedral, at the most moderate expense, and with a certainty that the 
institution could never sink down into being only a receptacle for aged 
and dignified drones. It would also keep up a constant circulation of 
clerical life from the centre to the whole body of the diocese ; and the 
mode of celebrating Divine Service would, before many years, become 
so homogeneous, that, on great religious gatherings, when thronging 
crowds came together in the Cathedral from all the parishes, one heart 
and one voice would animate the whole mass, and the praises of God 
would be sung so lustily and with such good courage, as the whole of 
Christendom has hardly known for more than a thousand years. 

To supply this ministry with abundant members, there should be a 
thorough system of education connected, as of old, with this Cathedral. 
The boys' school should be open only to such boys as had approved 
voices, and were sufficiently well-behaved to be employed in the 
stated service of the House of God. To such, a competent mainte- 
nance should be afforded, with thorough instruction, not only in Church 
music, but in all the other branches needed for a full theological educa- 
tion thereafter. By the time their voices began to break, they should 
be ready for admission to college ; and the Cathedral should have at its 
disposal scholarships sufficient to carry through all who should possess 
requisite ability, and disposition toward the ministry. On graduating, 
by which time their voices as men would be settled, and once more at 
disposal for regular service, they would be admitted as Candidates for 
Holy Orders, and at the same time take their places as men-choristers in 
the Cathedral choir. The ancient cloisters should be so far modified as 
to supply sufficient rooms and accommodations for these students, while 
preparing their theological studies preparatory to the Diaconate. Into 
this Order they should be admitted at the end of their first year, and 
then at once begin, under the charge of Priests, their proper appren- 
ticeships, in the originally intended work of the order of Deacons ; not 
rising to the Priesthood ordinarily until they have fulfilled for at least 
three years this humbler ser^nce. Then, after one or two years' ser- 
vice as Priests also, they would be ready, if they so desired, for matri- 
mony and a parish. 

All this while they would be in more or less of close contact with the 
Bishop. He could watch the development of the character of each 
from boyhood, knowing well what was his temper and ability, what he 
was good for, and where he would be likely to ser\'e the Church best. 
And the Clergy would thus learn to know and love their Bishop with a 
warmth of personal attachment which is now impossible. For, in our 
ordinary system, a candidate in a large Diocese like this, commonly 
meets his Bishop for a few minutes at the time he applies to be received 
as a candidate, and also at his examination and ordination, and after 
that only at a Visitation, Convocation, or Convention ; neither party 
having really any chance worth talking of to become truly acquainted 



Appendix. 367 

with, or attached to the other. Upon our proposed plan, these younger 
clergymen would not be overworked at the scribbling of one or two 
wishy-washy sermons in a week, while they have no time left them to 
practise the true essence of the pastoral function — the going in person 
after the wandering sheep, through the streets and lanes, among the 
poor and destitute, the sick and the dying — which will teach them more 
of true spiritual growth in a month, than the writing of sermons will 
in a year. Nor would it be necessar>^ for poor people, when in want 
of a clergyman, to hunt him up among boarding-houses down-town, or 
indistinguishable rows of brick or brown stone uptown. No ! There 
this house full of clergy would reside, on the Cathedral grounds ; none 
of them would be allowed more than one month's absence during the 
year, and not more than two to be absent at once at any one time from 
the city ; nor ever less than two or three left in attendance at the house 
at any hour of the day or night, and this house of residence would be 
perpetual and unchanging, so that once known it could be found again 
with ease. 

But it must not be supposed that this Cathedral will stand, like old 
Trinity on Broadway, with nothing but graves beside it, solitary, amidst 
the noises of this huge business Babel. Nowhere should this great 
Church abut upon the open street. But it should stand in the centre 
of a large inclosed ground ; protected by a complete eiitourage of other 
buildings, from the dust and noises of the street ; approached by its 
four gates, and the green grass and quiet trees filling the space — as 
large a space as could be gotten — between the great church and its 
surrounding buildings. Nor should these surrounding buildings in- 
close anything except what is needed for the service of the Cathedral, 
or the diocese of which it should be the mother-church — the very heart 
and centre. First there should be the Bishop's house — plain, though 
large and liberal, and of superior dignity to any other in the group. 
Next to him should be the houses of the four principal persons, fol- 
lowed by the common residence of the rest of the cathedral clergy. 
Then there should be a house for the head of the cathedral school, and 
school-rooms, and common rooms and dormitories for the choir-boys. 
The organist should have his own house also, and there should be 
others for the vergers or sextons and their families. Beside these 
there should be the chapter house. There would the House of Bishops 
meet and sit during General Convention or in council, while the Lower 
House occupied an adjoining transept. In the great surrounding circle 
of buildings there should be a church hospital, a sisterhood house, 
a dispensary, an infirmary, an asylum for superannuated and infirm 
clergy, where they could live upon the Church they had served during 
their lives, and daily attend her cathedral worship, and pray for her 
when they were too old to do anything else in her behalf. There should 
also be the cathedral library — the chief collection of books which could 
be found anywhere in the country ; and the muniment room, where the 
archives of the American Church should be kept safely, instead of in a 
tin box in a private residence, subject to all the chances of fire. There 
should be the diocesan treasury, and there the offices of every one of 



368 A Champion of the Cross. 

the Church societies, whether diocesan or general — the more prominent 
position being of course assigned to the latter. The cloisters we have 
already mentioned as devoted to the accommodation of the candi- 
dates for the diaconate. Thus there would be gathered within one 
great circuit, every part and parcel of that which is needed for the 
general life and organic operations of the Church, together with a por- 
tion, at least, of that which is necessar}' for her work anywhere, even 
down to the least detail. And this complex variety of institutions, 
thus clustering around the base of the great Mother-Church, would 
furnish of itself — even without any aid from elsewhere — a large and 
devout and constant congregation of the faithful for the daily ser\uce 
and the weekly Eucharist, and for every other function which consti- 
tutes, or ought to constitute, any part of the Church's life. Who is 
there who would not rejoice to see such a sight as this } 

But it may be asked, even by those who would approve and admire 
so glorious a scheme as we have rudely sketched — where could it be 
possible to get the means for reahzing it ? 

To this I reply, that we have already all, or nearly all, the means ly- 
ing ready to our hand now in our very midst, only we do not see 
them. Or, if we have not enough to complete, we have at least enough 
to begin, and begin well, with the confidence that by the time the work 
is ready for completion, the additional means will come by the process 
of natural and inevitable increase. 

[He goes on to specify these elements of his plan : the estates of 
Trinity forming a basis, at least sufficient, without hurting their present 
use, for " a fair start." He speaks of that corporation as an immense 
money power, which may work with the Bishop, and may not ; but 
which if it does work with the Bishop should in some way do so on ac- 
count of his Order, and not because pleased with the Bishop person- 
ally. 

The G. T. S. ought to be brought into the Cathedral close, and thus 
its lack of a proper chapel could be met by the Cathedral Choir, and 
its library safely housed. The Episcopal Residence owned then by 
the Diocese, if sold, would furnish abundant means for the erection of 
a better one in the Close. Trinity School would be the basis of a full 
Cathedral School. Columbia College would furnish the full education 
spoken of, the Trinity School already having a large number of scholar- 
ships in the same. The Society for the Proniotio7i of Religion and 
Learning would help candidates for Orders. The City Mission So- 
ciety would have abundance of means, when once revived with active 
zeal. By its Charter it may hold unlimited amounts of property, and 
on this Charter full provision could be made for the support of the Ca- 
thedral Clergy, should no other mode be feasible. The Sisterhood 
House was already in existence in New York and St. Luke's Hospital 
and Dispensary and Infirmar}- were just rising into existence. The 
other Societies were in New York, too.] 

What, then, is wanting? The ground is covered with confused 
heaps of stone, all cut and squared, of timber measured and shaped, 
and all manner of materials for the erection of a mightier and more 



Appendix. 369 

beautiful fabric, material and spiritual, than has ever yet been seen on 
this American Continent. We want nothing but The Architect — the 
wise Master Builder — who can see clearly when each fits into each, 
whose hand is cunning enough to bring together the parts already pre- 
pared for one another ; who can, in other words, simply pick up and 
put together the admirable and abundant materials that now lie scat- 
tered in chaotic confusion all round him on every side. Let this be 
once done, and the head of the Diocese will be no longer head only in 
name, while the substance of power and influence is in other hands. 

The visible array of the Church will be no longer dispersed in such 
wise as to be almost invisible to the world around. But after the long 
eclipse of her primitive and powerful system, she will once more " look 
forth as the morning." Not dimmed and hidden by the petty jealou- 
sies and suspicions, the cowardly fears and misbelieving apprehensions, 
which men are forever conjuring up to cloud the very light of day ; 
but once more " clear as the sun." Not split into disjointed fragments ; 
not left at sixes and sevens, as if hap-hazard were the only law of 
the Church's growth ; not lying in such pertinacious confusions 
that it was impossible that any two pieces of the Church system could 
ever be made to hang together ; not like an undisciplined, disorderly 
mob, so scattered and mixed up among the superior members of the 
foe as to be almost imperceptible ; but once more a compact Body, in 
goodly order and close array, each several man gaining strength from 
his union with all the others, marshalled side by side under lawful com- 
mand and in perfect discipline ; and through the gathering clouds that 
foretell the approach of earth's greatest battle and her last, flashing in 
bold and peerless beauty, full upon the sight of her innumerable ene- 
mies, "terrible as an army with banners." 

The spectacle presented in these later days of Columbia College, 
St, Luke's Hospital, and the already rising walls of the Cathedral of 
St. John the Divine, show how true was the outlook of Hopkins when, 
in 1855, he pictured this very combination of great corporations near 
the Cathedral Church. 

24 



LETTERS. 

*' July 27, 1891. 
" Dear S : Writing grows harder and harder for me, especi- 
ally when there is nothing to say, except to thank you for your kind 
letters. . . . 

" As to myself, there are so many others in the world who have 
more to suffer than I have that I ca7it help being patient. It gives 
me neither thought nor trouble. I am only tha7ikfnl that it is no 
worse. I can yet read with entire comfort, and hardly move from my 
seat from morning till night. I read and doze and doze until it is time 
to go to bed ; and there you know my whole life except when — very 
rarely — I write a few brief letters. Your items of news about friends 
are always welcome. 

" Ever yours, 

" H. (enry)." 

" Troy, N. Y., August 14, 1891. 
" Dear Miss Hall : Our dear friend passed away in his sleep 
shortly after midnight. 

" That his end should be so free from suffering, at the last, was a 
great comfort. 

" His death took place at my place near Hudson, and I am in Troy 
arranging for the funeral. . . . 

" Faithfully yours, 

" E. D. Ferguson." 



TO THE SAME. 

" August 22, 1891. 

" We have returned from conveying the body of our dear friend to 
its last resting place at Rock Point, and knowing the long friendship 
that had existed between you, I felt that you would be interested in 
the events at the close of his life. 

" By what may seem almost providential means — or at least by es- 
caping constantly threatened dangers, his life extended much further 
than I anticipated, by at least more than a year. 

" It had been his dread, and my expectation, that he would be ab- 
solutely helpless for a time preceding his dissolution, for during all 
this time there was a loss of strength, and he had for a long time re- 
quired occasional assistance. 

" He was able, however, to occupy his time in reading and conver- 



Appendix. 371 

sation, though during certain feverish attacks to which he was liable 
he would be very sleepy for two or three days at a time. 

" On Monday and Tuesday preceding his death he had one of these 
attacks, but on Wednesday and Thursday he was bright ; read all the 
time when not talking, and was as comfortable as could be expected. 

" He was unable to lie long in one position, and the night before his 
death he had been rather more restless than usual, so that I went to 
his assistance quite frequently to get him up, and to aid him in lying 
down again. 

" The night of his death (Thursday night) he asked to go to bed 
quite early, and I had one of my family sit up in an adjoining room to 
go in and watch him. 

" He went readily to sleep, and lay perfectly quiet, until soon after 
midnight, the watcher, noticing that he did not for a few minutes make 
his usual noise in breathing, called me, and I found he had just passed 
away without a motion — without a struggle — from sleep to sleep. 
Knowing that you would take an interest in it all I send you this brief 
account of his passage from this life to life eternal. 

" Sincerely, 

"E. D. Ferguson." 



FROM THE SAME. TO THE SAME. 

" I will supplement my letter by a brief note. 

" I may say that he was not only brave but cheerful to the end. Only 
for a few times did the peevishness of invalidism show itself toward 
the end, and even that which might be called peevishness in him would 
in the average invalid have passed for good humor. 

" He left no special messages to anyone. All of that seemed to have 
been arranged. Last year, when it seemed he might soon pass away, 
he left some suggestions to me concerning you. 

" The end stole on him so that there was no time for messages — and 
his last words were ' that will do, dear,' as I turned him and arranged 
him in bed. He often spoke to me of you, and I fully understood the 
deep interest you took in each other, so I telegraphed you, it being the 
only telegram I sent except to his sister, who attended to the rest. 

" I do not feel that I need thanks or praise for my care of him. I 
was glad to do it, and would do it gladly again ; hence there is no merit 
in it. 

" Sincerely, 

" E. D. Ferguson." 



FROM MRS. FERGUSON TO MISS HALL. 

"... I assure you of dear Dr. Hopkins' unwavering faith until his last 
moments. No word of doubt ever escaped his lips, and his one remark 
when speaking of the future state, and his nearness to it, was, " just as 



3/2 A CJiampion of the Cross. 

the Father wills." He frequently spoke of his death as one would 
speak of passing from one room to another. There was no evidence 
in his daily conversation that he ever had a fear or a doubt of the future 
or his jNIaster's inhnite love. Could 3^ou have seen how perfectly happy 
he was you could never have doubted his trust and confidence in God. 
The mfluence of his cheerful resignation and perfect trust has left an 
impression on our family that can never be forgotten — in fact it was 
felt by all who came to see him. 

" Yours very lovingly, 

" Marion A. Ferguson. 
" Nov. 13, 1892." 

"233 Clarendon St., Boston, 
"July 15, 1891. 

" Dear Dr. Hopkins : I thank you very much indeed for both your 
letters. They give me opportunity to acknowledge your kind and cor- 
dial advocacy of my election, and all the chivalrous things you have 
said during this prolonged discussion. I have no right to regret the 
discussion, prolonged as it has been, since it has led m.y friends to say 
so many friendly words, and has clothed the election with all the sig- 
nificance that could possibly be given to it. Now I shall rejoice indeed 
if I can receive strength and wisdom to do a Bishop's duty faithfully 
and well. 

" I hope that you will come to the consecration ; and with all best 
wishes for your health and happiness I am sincerely your friend and 
brother, 

"Phillips Brooks." 



INDEX. 



Addington Park, Croydon, 163, 164. 

All Saints, Margaret Street, 180, 181. 

Altar vessels, designs for, 49-61. 

Alms bason, gift of American Church 
to the Church of England, 54-57. 

Alumni Lectureship on Evidences, 
220-222. 

Anglican Church, compared with Ro- 
man and Eastern Churches, 291-293. 

" Athirst for love," 39. 

Barker, Br, 202. 

Batterson, Dr. H. G. , 203, 204, 216. 

Battle against High Churchmen, 78. 

Beauvais, cathedral of, 178. 

Birth, I, 

Blank Cartridge, The, editorials, 127- 

145- 
" Blow on, Thou Mighty Wind," hymn 

for Whitsunday, 65, 66. 
Breck, Dr. James, 196. 
Brigonnet, Bp., of Meaux, 283, 284. 

Cady, Dr. Philander K., 223. 

Canterbury, 167-169. 

Capel, Mgr. , controversy with, 217. 

Carey, Rev. Arthur, 21, 22. 

Caricatures, 34, 35. 

Cathedral System in the City, 359-369. 

Characteristics of parents, 2-5. 

Chester, 150. 

Church Journal, 83. 

" Church, as it is," editorial, editorials, 

95-104. 
Church, in the face of Civil War, 105- 

108. 
Church Music, 61-72. 
Clarkson, Bp., anecdote of, 216. 
Clerical hfe of the elder Hopkins, 5-7. 
Colenso, Bp. , 146, 147. 
Controversy about Rituahsm, 187-190. 
Courtney, Dr. P., 199. 

Dana, Charles A., 36. 
Death of Bp. Hopkins, 183. 
Death of Dr. Hopkins, 231. 
Decline and Fall of the Low Church 
Party, Appendix, 295-358. 



Defeat of movement to divide diocese 

of Central Pennsylvania, 208. 
Defence of Low Churchmen, 191, 192. 
Designs, 49-61. 

Diaconate, Dr. Hopkins on the, 85-87. 
Dieppe, 173. 

Diocese of Springfield, 198. 
Dix, Dr. Morgan, 61, 146, 213. 
I " Dream of a Child," 231-234. 
Durham, cathedral of, 151, 152. 

! Ecclesiological Society of New 
1 York, 49, 61. 

j Election of Dr. Phillips Brooks to the 
[ Episcopate, 198, 372. 
Elliott, Bp. of Georgia, 21. 

I Failure of Bp. Hopkins, 13-15. 

Family prayers, collects for, 250. 

Family school, 8-10. 

Fearlessness, 91, 94, 192. 
; Ferguson, Dr. E. D. , 186, 223, 224. 
; Fredericksburg, Va., 201, 202. 

Gallicanism, 179. 

General Convention, 216, 218. 

General Theological Seminary, 21, 22, 
45-49, 93, 94, 206-209, 220-223. 

Goethe, translation of, 36. 

Graduated Representation, 239-242. 

Graduates from University of Vermont, 
12. 

" Gregorians vs. Anglicans," an inci- 
dent, 63, 64. 

Hoffman, Dr. E. A., 161, 210, 222, 
223. 

Home-making, 18-21. 

"Huckleberry Pudding," editorial, 
112-114. 

Huguenots, 289-291. 

Hymnal ; the right to use an unauthor- 
ized, 69, 70. 

Iconoclasm, 223, 228. 
Illinois, Province of, 199, 200. 
Illness, 223-225, 231, 235. 
Innovations, no, iii. 



374 



Index. 



"Jerusalem, my home," hymn, 67 
68. 

Lambeth .Conferexce, 147-149, 

167-171. 
Laon, cathedral of, 177, 178. 
"Law of Rituahsm," by Bp. Hopkins, 

126. 
Lay Element in England and America 

(from Contemporary Review) 258- 

280. 
Letters, 15, 18, 21-38, 196-217, 220- 

228, 370-372. 
Liberty and Constitutional Law, 115- 

118. 
Liddon, Dr., 205. 
Lincoln, cathedral of, 154, 155. 
Littledale, Dr., letters from, 280, 282. 
London, 158, 159, 162, 163. 

Mackonochie, Rev. A. H. , 162. 
Mahan, Dr. Milo, 61, 83, 93, 103. 
Marriage of his parents, 3. 
McVickar, Dr. John, 61, 84. 
Montluc, Bp. of Valence, 287. 
Mother of Dr. Hopkins, 1-5. 
Murder of President Lincoln, 108. 
"My life is like a freighted barque," 
Zl^ 38. 

Norwich, cathedral of, 157, 158. 

Ordination, Deacon, t^, ; Priest, 186. 
Oxford, Colleges of, 164-167. 
Oxford Tracts, Bishop Hopkins on the, 
36. 

Paris, 174, 175, 179. 

Parliament House, 160. 

Pastoral staff for Bp. Howe. 58-61. 

Pennsylvania, Federate Council of, 

205-207, 211-213, 215. 
Perry, Rev. T. W. , 159, 165. 
Personal customs of Dr. Hopkins, 115. 
Peterborough, cathedral of, 155. 
Plattsburgh, 183-193. 
Policy of Church Journal, 84. 
" Print-Colorer's Lament," 43, 44. 
Province of Illinois, 223-225, 231, 235. 
Provincial system, 252-257. 
Pusey, Dr., 165-167. 



Racine College, 199. 
Reunion of Christendom, 218-220. 
Review of the history of the Church, 

74-81. 
Rheims, cathedral of, 175, 176. 
Ritualism, birth of, 49. 
" Ritualism, what is," 1 19-126. 
Rock Point, 18. 

Roman Church, changes in, 225-227. 
Rouen, cathedral of, 174. 
Russian Liturgy in Trinity Chapel, 

New York, 109. 

Sale of the Church Journal, 184. 

Savannah, tutor at, 21. 

" Scholars and Gentlemen," editorials, 
87-90. 

Seals, 49, 50. 

Sermons, 244. 

Seymour, Bp., 82, 84, 198, 231. 

" Sparrows in Winter," 189, 190. 

St. Alban's, Holborn, 160, 161. 

St. Alban's, New York, no. 
I St. Alban's, Peale, Pa., 214, 
I St. George the Martyr, 211, 249. 
I " Stuffed Tiger," editorial, loi. 

Sweet, Rev. C. F., 223, 228. 

j " Tenacity of purpose " on part of 

] Rome, 100, loi. 

! Thompson, Bp. H. M., 236, 237. 

Vergennrs, 185. 

I Vermont, Dr. Hopkins' father Bp. of, 
i II. 

! Vermont Drawing-book, 42. 
' Vermont Episcopal Institute, 11, 12. 

Walker, Bp. W. D., 168, 211. 

Walter, W. H., Mus. Doc, 63. 

Ward, Rev. Juhus H., 184. 
I Westminster Abbey, 158, 159. 
i " We three Kings of Orient are," carol, 

with music, 71, 72. 
I Whitehead, Bp. , 201. 

Williamsport, 193-195. 

"Wooden Turk," editorial, 103. 

Wordsworth, Bp. Chr. (also Archdea- 
con), 56, 57, 228. 

York, 152, 153. 



LIST OF DR. HOPKINS' SEPARATE 
PUBLICATIONS. 



Life of Bishop Hopkins. By one of his Sons. 

1872. 

The Works of Dr. Milo Mahan, with Memoir. 

1875. 
Poems by the Wayside. 1883. 

Carols, Hymns, and Songs. Fourth edition, 
enlarged. 1883. 

On Romanism. i8go. (The Controversy with 
Mgr. Capel.) 






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